VARB GROSBY. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Shelf JpAj-k 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



- 



MEMORIAL PAPERS 



AND 



!THE LIBRARY' 

ior COMOR*** 1 

WASHINGTON 



REMINISCENCES 



OF 



HOWARD CROSBY, D.D., LL.D. 



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NEW YORK: 

William Knowles, Publisher. 

1892. 



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COPYRIGHT SECURED 
1892. 






Printed for Family Distribution. 



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DEDICATION 



I dedicate to the youth of our family and 
their descendants this collection of memorials of 
my dear brother, Howard Crosby, whose life 
was a " living epistle " of the grace of God, 
with the prayer that they may follow in his 
footsteps, inasmuch as he followed Christ, and 
become partakers of "like precious faith." 

M. C. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE. 

His Life, Sickness, and Death, - - 9 

CHAPTER II. 
Memorial Tributes, 76 

CHAPTER III. 
Incidents, - 170 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Preacher and Citizen, - - 209 

CHAPTER V. 
Miscellaneous, - 374 



{Written one hour before his death.} 



I write finally ; I know 
I can never see you again. 
I give up my pulpit. 
I bid good-by to all. 
God is with me. 



Yours, faithfully, 

Howard Crosby 



March 29, 1891. 

Mr. G. E. Sterry, 

239 Madison Avenue, 
New York. 



Howard Crosby. 



HOWARD CROSBY. 

He in his Life built his own Monument : 
We who remain the Epitaph indite : 
u A Citizen, chivalric as a Knight ; — 
His mail — a courage wrought of pure intent 
That Civic wrong give place to Civic right. 
A Scholar : he with Plato often trod 
The Academic groves in quest of light, 
Yet with a full, clear vision of the God 
Great Plato dimly saw. 

A Teacher, wise, 
He held God's word as God's : in its defence 
Stood as a rock. He made no compromise 
'Twixt Truth and Error ; and where zeal intense 
Failed to persuade, he oft with love beguiled, 
Since in his Faith he was a little child." 

A. D. F. Randolph. 
March 29, 1891. 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 



CHAPTER I. 



[From the New York " Evangelist:" 1 ] 

HOWARD CROSBY 



Howard Crosby was born in this city on Feb- 
ruary 27, 1826. A book of genealogy has been 
published, which traces the Crosby family back to 
the time of Edward I. of England. In America 
the family has long been prominent. One of 
Howard Crosby's great-grandfathers was Judge 
Joseph Crosby of Massachusetts ; another was 
General William Floyd, a signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence and a member of the First 
Congress. His paternal grandfather was Dr. 
Ebenezer Crosby, a graduate of Harvard College 
and of the medical department of the University 
of Pennsylvania, a distinguished surgeon in Wash- 
ington's army during the Revolutionary war, an 
original member of the Society of the Cincinnati, 
and a professor and trustee of Columbia College. 



io Howard Crosby. 

His father, William Bedlow Crosby, inherited 
from his mother's uncle a large property, which 
enabled him to follow his inclination and devote 
both time and money to works of public benev- 
olence and private chanty. Among the public 
enterprises which he helped was the founding of 
the University of the City of New York. 

Howard Crosby's education was carefully at- 
tended to, and he was graduated from the Uni- 
versity of the City of New York in 1844, at the 
age of eighteen. After passing some time in 
travelling and in continuing his education under 
private tutors, in 1851 he was called to his Alma 
mater as Professor of Greek. While holding this 
chair, he found time to give instruction in the 
Bible to a large class of young men, and to assist 
in organizing the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion in this city, there being at that time only two 
others in the country — at Boston and Providence. 
In the second year of the Association he was its 
President, and to his personal efforts was largely 
due the erection of the commodious Association 
building at Fourth Avenue and Twenty-third 
Street. 

After eight years of devotion to numerous ac- 
tivities, Dr. Crosby found his health was being 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 1 1 

undermined, and he therefore cut himself loose 
from overtaxing demands upon him by accepting 
the chair of Greek in Rutgers College. Les- 
sened duties and quieter surroundings completely 
restored his health, and, in 1861, he began his 
ministerial life as pastor of the Presbyterian church 
at New Brunswick, retaining his professorship. In 
1863 he resigned both pastorate and professorship 
in order to become minister of the Fourth Avenue 
Presbyterian Church in this city, a connection 
which lasted until his death. 

In 1859 Dr. Crosby received from Harvard Col- 
lege the degree of Doctor of Divinity. This was 
before he had been licensed to preach. In 1861 
President Lincoln offered him the position of 
Minister to Greece, but he declined it. In 187 1 
Columbia College conferred upon him the degree 
of LL.D. In 1870 Dr. Crosby was elected Chan- 
cellor of the University of the City of New York, 
of the council of which he had been a member 
since 1864. In 1873 ne was chosen Moderator of 
the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
which was held that year in Baltimore, and he was 
in all eleven times a delegate to that body. In 
1877 he was a delegate to the first Presbyterian 
General Council at Edinburgh. 



12 Hozvard Crosby. 

DY. Crosby had a strong reforming tendency, 
which led him to take the liveliest interest in 
subjects outside the strict delimitations of his office 
as a minister of the Gospel, and to perform an 
immense amount of additional work. The bold- 
ness and zeal of this reforming tendency often led 
him to act in a manner that startled his more timid 
or conservative brethren. Before the Hartford 
Congress of Churches he pointed out unhesita- 
tingly the inconsistency and evil of a Christendom 
divided into hostile camps, and advocated a closer 
union of all denominations. He rapidly applied 
his reforming energies to political and social 
problems, writing and speaking vigorously in 
advocacy of a restriction of wealth, and contend- 
ing boldly that the accumulation of great fortunes 
endangered the welfare and happiness of the com- 
munity. He held and taught the doctrine of 
temperance as opposed to the fanaticism of prohi- 
bition by legislative enactment, and became the 
recognized leader in this country of those who 
would check intemperance by high license. The 
extreme prohibitionists, however, within and with- 
out the churches, bitterly opposed Dr. Crosby on 
this question, and some of them assailed him with 
a most unchristian-like virulence. But strength of 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 13 

conviction and immovableness under attack 
were among his most marked characteristics, 
and he remained to the end a powerful barrier 
to the spread of prohibition fanaticism in the 
churches. 

Dr. Crosby was principally instrumental in 
founding the Society for the Prevention of Crime, 
in 1877, and was its President from its organiza- 
tion until his death. The objects of the Society 
are to put down illicit liquor traffic, to suppress 
concert saloons and theatres of the baser sort, to 
purify the criminal courts, and to secure better 
legislation for this city ; and it has been a potent 
agent for good from its beginning. In furthering 
its purposes as a member of the State Commission 
on the Excise Laws he did yeoman's service. He 
lent his assistance to the cause of international 
copyright, and that of the proper treatment of the 
Indians. He was a very voluminous writer. Be- 
sides almost innumerable magazine articles, he 
published " Lands of the Moslem," written after a 
tour in the East (1851); " CEdipus Tyrannus " of 
Sophocles, edited with notes (1851); " Scholia 
on the New Testament" (1861); " Social Hints" 
(1866) ; " Life of Jesus " (1870) ; " Bible Compan- 
ion " (1870); " Healthy Christian" (1871); 



14 Howard Crosby. 

"Thoughts on the Pentateuch" (1873); ''Notes 
on Joshua" (1875) I "Commentary on Nehemiah " 
(1876); "The Christian Preacher" (1879); " Th e 
Humanity of Christ" (1880); and "Commentary 
on the New Testament" (1885). He was also a 
member of the American Committee on the Revi- 
sion of the New Testament. 



[From the Mail and Express, March 28, 1891.] 

CROSBY DYING! 



THE DISTINGUISHED CLERGYMAN 
VERY NEAR HIS END. 



ALL HOPE WAS ABANDONED TO-DAY. 



BUT HIS VITALITY AND WILL MAY CARRY HIM 
THROUGH THE DAY. 



His Case very much like that of General Sherman — Too weak to relieve 
the gathering in his throat — A review of his life and work in the pulpit, 
in politics, and in the cause of Social Reforms. 



The friends of the Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby are 
hourly expecting the death of that eminent clergy- 
man and reformer. He has made a gallant fight 
against the attack of pneumonia which followed 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 15 

the cold which he caught on his trip to Troy to 
see his dying daughter, but his own strong will and 
the untiring efforts of Drs. Conrad and Bosch, his 
attending physicians, have not availed to conquer 
the disease. 

A large number of people have called at his 
home, No. 116 East Nineteenth Street, since yes- 
terday afternoon to learn the doctor's condition, 
but have received no encouraging reports. At one 
time yesterday he was thought to be dying, but 
his wonderful vitality came once more to the 
rescue. 

His case resembles closely that of General Sher- 
man, and he has been battling in much the same 
way that marked the last illness of the old soldier. 
As absolute quiet was ordered by the physicians, a 
policeman is kept constantly on guard outside the 
house to answer questions and prevent the ringing 
of the door-bell. 

After 1 1 o'clock last night Dr. Crosby continued 
to grow weaker steadily. He had lost the power 
to expectorate, and the choking which resulted 
weakened his pulse and the action of the heart. 
At 1 o'clock this morning he was in a state of 
coma, and the announcement was that he would 
probably live only a few hours. 



1 6 Howard Crosby. 

MAY SURVIVE THE DAY. 

During the morning there was no striking 
change in Dr. Crosby's condition. His alternating 
periods of unconsciousness were the only times 
that he was free from great pain. Drs. Conrad 
and Bosch took turns in relieving each other at the 
bedside. Dr. Bosch left the house at 7.45 o'clock 
this morning. He said the patient's condition was 
serious, and that he was slowly dying. 

The worst symptom was his inability to dis- 
charge the rapidly collecting mucus. Like General 
Sherman, Dr. Crosby's heart was in good condi- 
tion, and it was thought that this fact would enable 
him to survive longer than it was at first thought 
possible. 

Dr. Conrad visited Dr. Crosby at 9.30 and re- 
mained twenty minutes. When he left the house 
he said to a Mail and Express reporter : 

" Dr. Crosby is very low, but I believe he will 
survive the day. The only rest he gets is now 
and then a few minutes, when his great pain leaves 
him for a short time. He is occasionally conscious, 
and knows me then." 

Dr. Conrad said that Dr. Crosby's high temper- 
ature was not so dangerous a symptom as the 



Life, Sickness, and Death. i 7 

difficulty he had in coughing. Both doctors felt 
that Dr. Crosby could not survive this illness. 
His wife, his son, Prof. Nicholas E. Crosby, and 
his youngest daughter, Miss Grace, were at his 
bedside. His son Ernest, the ex-Assemblyman, is 
at Cairo as one of the international court, and 
his eldest daughter, Miss Edith, is visiting her 
brother in Egypt. Up to the hour of going to 
press no material change had been reported in 
the patient's condition. 

DOOMED NEARLY FIFTY YEARS AGO. 

In 1844 Howard Crosby graduated from the 
University of the City of New York. At that 
time his physicians assured him that he could not 
live a year. He was informed that one of his 
lungs was destroyed, and that he would soon die 
of consumption. But happily for the world this 
medical prediction did not prove true. Nearly 
half a century has past since then, and during these 
many years Dr. Crosby has been one of New 
York's leading clergymen — robust, strong, helpful. 
But within the last few years he has been very sus- 
ceptible to colds. 

Last May when attending the General Assembly 



iS Howard Crosby. 

in Saratoga, he went to Troy one week to preach 
for his son-in-law, the Rev. Arthur Huntington 
Allen, pastor of the Woodside Presbyterian 
Church. On his return to Saratoga he caught a 
severe cold. 

He carried on his work at the Assembly — he 
was one of the seven living ex-moderators present 
at that eventful gathering — but on his return to 
Xew York his physicians counselled him to rest 
for a time. He went to Pine Hill in the Catskills. 
and a few weeks' rest brought him round. 

HIS CAMPAIGN WORK. 

It was while at his Pine Hill country house 
that he wrote the address which he read in the 
autumn before the People's Municipal League. 
This gave the initial momentum to the campaign 
for the "purification of local politics." Many of 
Dr. Crosby's old Republican friends thought that 
the movement was ill-advised, and that it could 
only help the Tammany ring, but no one doubted 
the Doctor's courage, strength, honesty, and 
patriotism. 

After gaining strength he came back to New 
York and busied himself with the work of his 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 19 

large church, and with other duties that his high 
position laid upon him. He was a strong sup- 
porter of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, 
and he gave his time and talents to every cause 
made for the betterment and welfare of his fellow- 
men. 

dr. crosby's daughter. 

The funeral of Mrs. Allen took place last 
Saturday, and during the services he was ill in bed. 
On Saturday he rallied, and it was thought that 
his remarkable recuperative powers would stand 
him in good stead. 

On Monday the hopes of those who watched 
by the bedside were bright ; but on Tuesday 
there were unmistakable signs of pneumonia. 
It was even feared that he would not live 
through the night. Then for a few days there 
was a fluctuation of hopes and fears until the 
sad report of last night. 

HIS REVOLUTIONARY DESCENT. 

Dr. Howard Crosby is one of the keenest 
scholars among the American clergy. The New 
Testament Revision Committee recognized this 



2 ) Hozvard Crosby. 

when he was made one of its members. He comes 
of a good revolutionary family. Ebenezer Crosby, 
his grandfather, was surgeon to General Washing- 
ton's guards. Joseph Crosby, his great-grand- 
father, was an old Massachusetts settler in the 
early days of the colony, and the old homestead at 
Braintree was in the family for years. His father 
was William Bedlow Crosby, the noted philanthro- 
pist, who died in this city in 1865. He, in early 
youth, was adopted by Colonel Henry Rutgers, 
and it was in this way that the Crosbys became 
connected with the Rutgers estate. 

HIS RAPID RISE. 

Howard Crosby was born in this city on Febru- 
ary 27, 1826. In 1844 he graduated from the 
University of the City of New York. He took up 
post-graduate studies, and in 1851 was made Greek 
professor of his alma mater. For eight years he 
held this chair, and then, in 1859, ne was called to 
the professorship of Greek in Rutgers College. 

Early in 1863 he gave up his chair at Rutgers 
and accepted the pastorship of the Fourth Avenue 
Presbyterian Church, in this city. There his best 
work has been done. The " Old Fourth Church" 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 21 

has been the center whence his influence has gone 
abroad into all places. 

A ripe scholar, a keen thinker, a bold and 
honest speaker, he has made an impression on the 
social life of his time that is in itself a monument. 
In 1872 he was made Chancellor of the University 
of New York — the college in which he had studied 
as a boy, and taught as a man. This position he 
held until 1881, when he was succeeded by the 
Rev. Dr. John Hall. Ever since 1864, however, he 
has been a member of the University Council. 

In 1859 ne received a D.D. degree from Harvard, 
and in 1 871 he was honored with the highest 
degree that Columbia can bestow — that of LL. D. 

WORK FOR SOCIAL REFORMS. 

He was chosen Moderator of the General 
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1873, and 
both before that time and since has been many 
times a delegate to the assembly. In 1877 he was 
a delegate to the first Presbyterian General Coun- 
cil at Edinburgh. In addition to his church work, 
and the official duties that his ecclesiastical promi- 
nence imposed upon him, he has been active in 
social affairs and a prominent supporter ' of all 



Hou \ i ) 'd Crosby. 

movements that made for good government. For 
many years he has advocated the principle of 
temperance as distinguished from total abstinence. 
The Moderation Society was a direct outcome of 
his teachings. 

In 1877 he took a leading part in establishing 
the Society for the Prevention of Vice, and he has 
never hesitated to lend it every assistance in his 
power. He has done much to influence legislation, 
and the municipal government of New York owes 
the inception of many of the regulations it has 
made in relation to intemperance and crime to 
Dr. Howard Crosby. 

He has also been actively interested in the 
welfare of the Indian wards of the nation, and 
all writers owe him a debt of gratitude for his 
efforts for the passing of the International Copy- 
right law. 

AS AN AUTHOR. 

As an author Dr. Crosby has won distinction, 
and long after his deeds are forgotten his published 
books will keep his name living among men. 

His " Lands of the Moslem," written after an 
extended tour in the East, was published in 1851. 
In the same year he edited an edition with notes 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 23 

of the " CEdipus Tyrannus " of Sophocles. Ten 
years later appeared his well-known and scholarly 
" Scholia on the New Testament." 

Then came these books: " Social Hints" (1866), 
"Life of Jesus" (1870), "Bible Companion" (1870), 
"Healthy Christian" (1871), "Thoughts on the 
Pentateuch " (1873), "Notes on Joshua" (1875,) 
''Commentary on Nehemiah" (1876), "The Chris- 
tian Preacher" (1879), ''The Humanity of Christ" 
(1880), and the " Commentary on the New Testa- 
ment" (1885). 

As a theologian and a social reformer Dr. Cros- 
by has writ his name large on the annals of his 
time. 

He has been bold and fearless — a man of brains 
and well-defined purpose — a man of fine culture 
and with a large love for humanity — and such a 
one as the world can ill afford to lose. 



24 Howard Crosby, 



[From the "Mail and Express'" March 30, 1891.] 
death! where is thy victory? O grave! where is thy sting? 

CROSBY— Of pneumonia, at his residence. n6 East Nineteenth Street, 
the Rev. Howard Crosby, aged 65 years. March 29, 1891. 

Funeral on Tuesday at 2 30 p.m.. at the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian 
Church. Fourth Avenue and Twenty-second Street 



CROSBY AT REST! 



FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS OF THE 
DEPARTED CLERGYMAN. 



PRIVATE SERVICES AT THE RESIDENCE. 



Followed by Public Services at the Church — The Latter Building to be 
elaborately Draped — Pall-bearers not yet selected. 



After a short illness the Rev. Howard Crosby, 
D.D., LL.D., the oldest settled pastor in the 
New York Presbytery, passed quietly away at 5.30 
yesterday afternoon. All his family, with the ex- 
ception of his oldest son Ernest and his daughter 
Edith, who are now in Egypt, were at his bedside 
and received his last messages. 

This afternoon the body lies in the back parlor 
on the second floor, the features wearing a calm 
serene smile, and the handsome face surrounded, 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 25 

as with a halo, by the snowy white hair, beautiful 
even in death. Very few flowers, except the Calla 
lilies, sent yesterday by the Rev. Henry Mottet 
and other friends, are to be seen. The sexton and 
undertaker of Dr. Crosby's old church, the Fourth 
Avenue Presbyterian, Mr. William Lumsden, is 
the funeral director. 

The casket, in which the body will be placed this 
afternoon, is covered with black broad-cloth, with 
oxidized silver trimmings, and bears a silver plate 
with the simple inscription, " Howard Crosby, 
born February 27, 1826. Died March 29, 1891. 

The services will be held first at the house, No. 
116 East Nineteenth Street, at two o'clock to- 
morrow afternoon, and then at the church, half an 
hour later. The first will be strictly private, and 
at both the Rev. Dr. John Hall and the Rev. Wm. 
M. Taylor, D.D., will officiate. These clergymen, 
it will be remembered, conducted the funeral of 
Dr. Crosby's daughter, Mrs. Allen, which occurred 
only a short time since. 

At the church, at 2.30, the services will be public, 
and all will have an opportunity of viewing the re- 
mains. The building will be draped regardless of 
expense, and a great profusion of flowers will be 
seen. A quartet from either the Madison Square 



2 Hoivard Crosby. 

church or Dr. Paxton's church will render appro- 
priate musical selections. The pall-bearers are yet 
to be selected, but they will probably be chosen from 
the officers of the church. All these details will be 
finally settled at a meeting of the session which 
will be held to-night in the pastor's study. 

A cast of the face of the dead pastor will be taken 
some time to day. After much persuasion the 
consent of the family was at last obtained, and a 
committee was appointed to select the sculptor. 
Mrs. Crosby, who has had scarcely any rest during 
the past week, is much broken down, but is bear- 
ing the blow bravely. Telegrams of condolence 
have been received from various friends, and Offi- 
cer Britton, who is stationed before the house, 
is kept busy handing in the cards of interested 
visitors. 

A touching incident occurred this morning about 
9.30. A little fellow, probably one of Dr. Crosby's 
Sunday-school scholars, came up to the officer and 
asked, with childish interest, " How is Dr. Crosby 
this morning?" Officer Britton looked at the boy 
for a moment, and then, with a kindly smile, said, 
" He is dead, my boy." 

The little fellow's countenance fell, and, looking 
as if he would cry, he turned and sadly retraced his 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 27 

steps. This showed, in a simple way, the popu- 
larity of Dr. Crosby with old and young. This will 
be further attested by the large delegations which 
will be present from the various societies and 
organizations with which he was connected. These 
include the Society for the Prevention of Crime, of 
which he was the founder, and the University 
of the City of New York, of which he was formerly 
the Chancellor. 

At the University Vice-Chancellor McCracken 
spoke feelingly this morning to the undergraduates 
of the dead clergyman, touching upon his various 
connections with the institution as an under- 
graduate, an alumnus, a professor and chancellor. 
He characterized him as, perhaps, the most distin- 
guished among all the departed graduates of the 
University, and dwelt upon his continued readi- 
ness to put his services at the command of the 
youngest student who wanted counsel and help in 
getting an education. 

He further emphasized the fact that Dr. Crosby 
had been continually the chairman of the com- 
mittee on the granting of honorary degrees by the 
University, and as most patiently, courageously, 
and impartially performing this delicate office, 
which has imposed upon him not an inconsiderable 



2 B Howard Crosby. 

amount of labor and responsibility. Dr. Crosby 
was also, at the time of his decease, the chairman 
of the committee upon the undergraduate depart- 
ment, on which devolved the reports as to all the 
courses of study in the college proper, and also the 
recommendations of professors to vacancies in the 
college faculty. He presided over the last meet- 
ing of the Council, by virtue of his office as 
vice-president of that body. This was the meeting 
which approved the proposed advance steps of the 
University, in which Dr. Crosby showed a lively 
interest. 

THE UNIVERSITY TO BE REPRESENTED. 

Vice-Chancellor McCracken has communicated 
to Mr. Ralph Wells, who has charge of the funeral 
services on behalf of the family, the desire of the 
Council to accompany in a body the remains from 
the house to the church, which is only a few blocks 
away ; and at a meeting, which will be held to-night 
at 8 o'clock, Mr. William Allan Butler will present 
a paper embodying the action of the university. 
Mr. Butler was a college mate of Dr. Crosby, 
graduating the year before him. 

The Society for the Prevention of Crime, of 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 29 

which Vice-Chancellor McCracken is one of the 
vice-presidents, will also hold a meeting to-night to 
consider what action shall be taken by it in regard 
to the death of its distinguished founder. Judge 
Arnoux, who is the other vice-president, will pre- 
side, and this society will also doubtless attend in 
a body. 

Some of the prominent callers at the house this 
morning were Mr. Cyrus W. Field, Treasurer 
Scott, of the Methodist Book Concern ; Mrs. C. F. 
Watson, Mr. Norman J. Rees ; Miss Denio, of 
Wellesley College ; Mr. Trimble ; Secretary Gil- 
dersleeve, of the Society for the Prevention of 
Crime; ex-Judge Arnoux, Warner Van Norden ; 
Mrs. Salter, cousin of Mrs. Crosby ; General Van 
Rensselaer, Mr. George B. Colby, of New Ro- 
chelle; Mr. Ralph Wells, Mr. George F. Betts, 
Dr. and Mrs. S. Beach Jones, and Mr. John Watts 
Kearney. 



30 Howard Crosby. 

[From tht •' New York Tribune,'" March 31 T 1891.] 

TRIBUTES TO DR. CROSBY, 



INSTITUTIONS RECOGNIZE THEIR LOSS. 



THE FUNERAL TO BE HELD TO-DAY IN THE FOURTH AVE- 
NUE CHURCH. DR. JOHN HALL AND DR. WILLIAM M. 

TAYLOR TO BE ASSISTED BY SEVERAL OTHER 
CLERGYMEN. THE PALL-BEARERS. 



Owing to the shortness of time between the 
death of the Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby and the 
funeral, the arrangements for the services were 
not completed until late last night. There will 
be a private service at the house at 2 p.m. to- 
day, at which Dr. John Hall and Dr. Will- 
iam M. Taylor will officiate, followed by the 
public service at 2.30 p.m. in the church at 
Fourth Avenue and Twenty-second Street. The 
burial will be to-morrow morning at Woodlawn. 

Among the many callers at the house yester- 
day were Cyrus W. Field, ex-Judge Gildersleeve, 
Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, Superintendent Scott, 
of the Methodist Book Concern, Coroner Levy, 
Ralph Wells, Judge Arnoux, Norman J. Rees, 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 31 

Mr. and Mrs. Salter, Dr. S. Beach Jones, S. 
C. Sherwood, W. J. Squires, C. F. Watson, 
the Rev. Dr. John W. Brown, Dr. Octavius 
White and Mrs. White, George F. Betts, 
Thomas Philip, Miss Maude Byron, Mr. and 
Mrs. Marion H. Henderson, John Watts Kear- 
ney, the Rev. Henry Mottet, Oscar Egerton 
Schmidt, Duane S. Everson, ex-Mayor Abram 
S. Hewitt, Robert G. Remsen, S. I. Bacon, 
John W. Smith and Mrs. Smith, the Rev. Jacob 
Freshman, Clarence W. Bowen, Miss Carlotta 
Nicholl, Deputy Coroner Jenkins, Archdeacon 
Mackay Smith, C. F. Schuyler, the Rev. Dr. 
R. Heber Newton, Warner Van Norden, Dr. 
Livingston Williams and Miss Williams, and 
the Rev. Dr. John Hall. 

The body lay yesterday in the rear room 
of the second floor, the room in which Dr. 
Crosby died. A committee asked the permis- 
sion of the family to have a cast taken, and 
F. Edwin Elwell, the sculptor who made the 
bust of Vice-President Morton, took a mould of 
the face in the morning. In the afternoon he 
made a cast. When Professor Nicholas E. 
Crosby saw it he remarked at the striking 
likeness. The face has taken wonderfully and 



32 Howard Crosby. 

has Dr. Crosby's peaceful, half-smiling expres- 
sion, with the firmness and strength of the 
mouth. Dr. Conrad remarked, after Dr. Cros- 
by's death, that the sufferer had lost remark- 
ably little flesh, and that in death he was the 
perfect image of life. The sculptor has re- 
produced this effect exactly. It is proposed to 
have a bronze statue made. 

DRAPING THE CHURCH. 

The Fourth Avenue Church was heavily 
draped last night. The two large tablets bear- 
ing the Ten Commandments, and the one be- 
tween them bearing the Lord's Prayer, all of 
which are behind the pulpit, were covered with 
black ; the pulpit itself and the entire gallery- 
railing were also covered, and the memorial tab- 
lets on either side of the pulpit were draped. 
The draping was under the supervision of Will- 
iam Lumsden, the sexton. 

The coffin is of cedar, with black broad- 
cloth covering. The plate bears this inscription : 
"Howard Crosby; Born February 27, 1826; 
Died March 29, 1891." 

Last evening a meeting of the elders, deacons, 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 33 

and trustees was held in the church study. 
It was decided to reserve all the pews on either 
side of the centre aisle. The first two pews 
will be held for relatives of the family. Six 
pews behind these will be occupied by the 
elders, deacons, and trustees. The officers of 
societies and institutions which have applied 
for positions will have sixteen pews behind 
these, while the ministers of the city will have 
twenty pews directly behind the delegations. 
The pews on both sides of each side aisle 
and the galleries will be open to the public. 
The order of exercises will be : 

INVOCATION. 

Hymn, " Rock of Ages Cleft for Me." 

READING OF SCRIPTURES. 

Remarks, ....... Dr. John Hall. 

Hymn, . . . . . "I Love to Tell the Story " 

Remarks, ..... Dr. William M. Taylor 

Hymn. . ... " When I can Read my Title clear. ** 

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND BENEDICTION 

The Rev. Dr. John Hall will have charge, 
and Dr. Taylor will assist. The following 
clergymen have also been asked to represent 
their various denominations in the services : the 
Rev Dr. Robert A. McArthur of the Calvary 
Baptist Church; the Rev. Dr. James M. King, 



34 Howard Crosby. 

of St. Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church; 
the Rev. Dr. YV. S. Rainsford, of St. George's 
Protestant Episcopal Church, and the Rev. Dr. 
Talbot W. Chambers, of the Collegiate Re- 
formed Church. Dwight L. Elmendorf. the 
•organist of the church, will play music which 
Dr. Crosby has spoken of from time to time 
as being particularly pleasing to him. Among 
the selections will be "Look Down, O Lord!" 
"Lift Thine Eyes," and '" Be Not Afraid," 
from " Elijah," and " I know that my Redeemer 
Liveth," from "The Messiah." The singing will 
be led by the quartet choir of the Madison 
Square Presbyterian Church, and the hymns 
are all special favorites of Dr. Crosby's. At 
the close of the services Mr. Elmendorf will 
play the hymn "The King of Love My Shep- 
herd Is," which Dr. Crosby has given out in 
the church services more often than any other 
this year. 

The public will have opportunity to view 
the body after the services and during the 
afternoon, for the coffin will not be moved 
from the church until 10.30 o'clock to-morrow 
morning, when it will be taken to Woodlawn 
for burial in the family plot. 



Life, Sickness ', and Death. 35 

The pall-bearers will be the officers of the 
church : Elders — Ralph Wells, Cornelius W. 
Brinkerhoff, Walter Edwards, George E. Sterry, 
James M. Farr, Albert J. Lyon, Charles N. 
Taintor, Reuben Langdon, John Stewart, Elias 
J. Herrick, S. Beach Jones, George P. Ludam, 
and John A. Mapes; deacons — William E. Bul- 
lard, Mervin J. McMillan, Edward Thorpe, 
Richard C. Jackson, George Jeremiah, George 
W. Lithgow, Zophar Mills and Frank P. Traut- 
mann ; trustees — Isaac V. Brokaw (president), 
George G. Moore, Morris S. Thompson, John 
A. Mapes, William P. Prentice, Albert J. Lyon, 
James Brand, Charles W. McLellan, and Rich- 
ard C. Jackson. A business meeting of the 
elders, deacons, and trustees of the church will 
be held to-morrow evening, directly after the 
regular church prayer-meeting. 

REMEMBERED AT THE UNIVERSITY. 

At the chapel exercises of the University of 
the City of New York yesterday morning pro- 
found sorrow was expressed. Vice-Chancellor 
Henry M. McCracken spoke of Dr. Crosby's 
great interest in the University, and his connec- 



36 Hozvard Crosby. 

tion, first as a student, then as an alumnus, 
then a professor, and finally as Chancellor. He 
spoke of him as being probably the most distin- 
guished among all the departed graduates of 
the University, and dwelt upon his continued 
readiness to put his services at the command of 
the youngest student who needed advice or 
help in his work. He spoke of his faithful 
work as chairman of the Committee on Granting 
Honorary Degrees by the University, and chair- 
man of the Committee on the Undergraduate 
Department. He presided over the last meeting 
of the Council, by virtue of his office, as vice- 
president of that body. This was the meeting 
which approved the proposed advance steps of 
the University, in which Dr. Crosby took a 
lively interest. In the afternoon the students 
held a mass-meeting and agreed to send a floral 
tribute to be placed on the coffin. 

In the evening the council held a meeting in 
the University building and decided that the 
members of the Faculty and Council should meet 
at Vice-Chancellor McCracken's home, No. 84 
Irving Place, at 2 p.m. to-day. They will then 
go to the house and serve as an escort from 
the house to the church. William Allan Butler 



Life, Sickness, and Death, 37 

presented a minute expressing deep regret at 
the loss of Dr. Crosby, who had been Chan- 
cellor of the University for eleven years. 
Charles Butler presided. 

A TRIBUTE FROM THE PRESBYTERIAN UNION. 

At the social meeting of the Presbyterian 
Union in the Assembly Rooms of the Metro- 
politan Opera House last evening, President 
Alexander P. Ketchum said that in the midst 
of their joy a shadow was upon them. Dr. 
Crosby was a member of the Union and a 
personal friend of its members. " But if he 
could speak to us now," said the president, " he 
would be the last to ask the postponement of 
our enjoyment this evening, which, great as it 
is, is slight compared with the joy with which 
he is surrounded. As members of the Presby- 
terian Church we mourn his loss ; as citizens we 
have a sense of loneliness ; the metropolis has 
lost one whose place may never again be sup- 
plied. He was one of the few great and good 
men, as familiar to the criminal class as to the 
peace-loving class, for he was a terror to evil- 
doers. The press of the city to-day reflects the 



j 8 Howard Crosby. 

sentiment of the City, the State and the Na- 
tion in mourning his loss. It is fitting that we 
should record our thought here, and I will 
name as a committee to express in proper form 
our sentiments, Dr. Henry M. Field, D. W. C. 
Still, and Warner Van Norden." 

Dr. F. F. Ellinwood, secretary of the Board 
of Foreign Missions, in welcoming Dr. James 
Stalker, of Glasgow, referred to Dr. Crosby as 
"one of the brightest stars in the land;" a man 
possessing the spirit of John Knox — lion-hearted 
and yet tender-hearted. 

Dr. Field, in presenting the resolutions, said 
that thirty-six years ago when he came to New 
York he found the young scholar here. He 
learned to love him early in his life in the city, 
he had always loved him, and he loved him 
now. The only pain he had ever experienced, 
in reference to him, was the pain which he felt 
now, that never more in this world should he 
look upon his face. As a brief tribute to his 
memory he offered this resolution, which was 
unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, That it is with profound grief we 
learn of the death of our beloved brother and 
fellow-member, the Rev. Dr. Howard Crosbv. 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 39 

The Church has sustained an overwhelming be- 
reavement, and his loss to the city is nothing 
less than a public calamity. A faithful, conscien- 
tious pastor and an eloquent preacher, he was 
also a patriotic citizen, who never spared time 
or effort for the good of his fellow-men. Al- 
though eminent as an educator and an accom- 
plished scholar, all his utterances were simplicity 
itself. Ever undaunted in combating evil in its 
most offensive forms, in all the relations of life 
he was gentle as a woman. No man of our 
time was more earnest and courageous in his 
efforts to restrain the power of vice in this 
community. And yet, notwithstanding the great 
burdens he assumed, he found time to discharge 
the duties of his pastorate and of the Church 
at large with punctilious exactness. The 
churches through the country and Christians in 
every land have cause to mourn him. We ex- 
tend to the congregation, of which for twenty- 
eight years he has been the devoted pastor, and 
to his afflicted family, our sincere and loving 
sympathy. 



4-0 Howard Crosby. 



[From the "New York Tribune," April 1, 1891.] 

Last Honors to Dr. Crosby 



Dr. John Hall and Dr. W. M. Taylor speak, 



SCORES OF CLERGYMEN AND HUNDREDS OF LAYMEN LISTEN 

TO THE APPRECIATIVE WORDS — THE FOURTH AVENUE 

CHURCH FAR TOO SMALL TO HOLD THOSE WHO 

DESIRED TO SEE THEIR FRIEND. 



The funeral of the Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby, 
for more than forty years before the public in 
this city as college professor and chancellor, 
author, preacher, and citizen, was held yesterday 
afternoon in the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian 
Church, the scene of his faithful ministry for 
more than twenty-eight years. A full half-hour 
before the hour set for the service every seat 
in the large church building was taken, the side 
aisles were filled with people standing and the 
doors were closed against nearly as many, it 
was said, as had been admitted. The services 
were conducted by the Rev. Dr. John Hall, of 
the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, assisted 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 41 

by the Rev. Dr. William. M. Taylor, of the 
Broadway Tabernacle (Congregational) ; Dr. W. 
S. Rainsford, of St. George's (Protestant Epis- 
copal) ; Dr. James M. King, of St. Andrew's 
Methodist (Episcopal), and Dr. R. S. McArthur, 
of the Calvary Church (Baptist) After the ser- 
vices thousands looked upon the tranquil face of 
the silent preacher. The burial will occur to- 
day at Woodlawn. 

Dr. Hall and Dr. Taylor, who conducted the 
funeral of Mrs. Arthur H. Allen at the home 
of her father ten days before, went to the house 
No. 116 East Nineteenth Street, on their 
second sad errand shortly before 2 o'clock. Dr. 
Taylor read the Scripture selection and Dr. 
Hall offered prayer. The hearse was escorted 
to the church by some sixty well-known men, 
representing the University of the City of New 
York, the Society for the Prevention of Crime 
and the Philo Society. Among the selections 
played on the organ by Dwight L. Elmendorf 
were these : " It was an Angel," by Cowan ; 
Andante, by Guilmant ; Sonata, Opus 13, by 
Beethoven; "Lift Thine Eyes," " Be Not Afraid," 
and " He That Shall Endure," from "Elijah," 
by Mendelssohn. The Andante by Mendelssohn 



42 Howard Crosby. 

was played as the funeral march, and after the 
services "The King of Love My Shepherd Is," 
by J. B. Dykes; Andante by Mozart, and 
" Lovely Appear," by Gounod. A beautiful floral 
cross of lilies and roses was sent by the Society 
for the Prevention of Crime, and the Young 
People's Association of the church had covered 
the coffin with a thick layer of cut violets. 

LESSONS DRAWN BY DR. HALL. 

After an invocation by Dr. Hall the Hymn 
" Rock of Ages " was read by Dr. Rainsford 
and sung by the quartet choir of the Madison 
Square Presbyterian Church. Dr. Hall read 
appropriate Scripture selections, beginning, " Let 
not your heart be troubled," and then spoke 
briefly, saying : 

" Of the personal qualities of the Christian 
graces, of the ministerial character of my broth- 
er, whose mortal remains are here in the midst 
of us, I do not feel that I am able to speak. 
I could not trust myself to enter upon a theme 
like this, nor, indeed, is it needed. These 
things have been recognized by the whole com- 
munity, and appropriate expression has been 
given to the feelings of appreciation of them in 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 43 

many forms already. What we have to do, 
dear brethren, as we are gathered here, is to 
look for the grace and teaching of the Holy 
Spirit that we may profit by the providence 
that brings us together, and that we may be 
better fitted than heretofore to take up and 
continue the work and form of service that it 
has pleased God to put into our hands. He 
whose remains are now under our eyes was, 
before he became a minister, a member of the 
church which it is my duty to serve. I can 
very well remember when, with the partner 
of his life, he stood up in the church there as 
I baptized his child. For four and twenty 
years I have been in close and happy associa- 
tion with him in various forms of Christian 
work and effort. He is the last of a group of 
godly men whom I found, as ministers, in this 
region when I came to this city, and from 
whom I received nothing but Christian kindness 
and courtesy. It is not possible for me to 
stand up in this place and look upon this silent, 
this beautiful face, without feelings too deep to 
find expression before a company like this. I 
shall not make the attempt." 

Dr. Hall then showed how Dr. Crosby, 
though dead, speaks now to ministers, to his 
congregation, to citizens, and to " all of us as 
Christians." 



44 Howard Crosby. 

DR. TAYLORS TRIBUTE TO HIS FRIEND. 

Dr. Hall closed his remarks by announcing 
one of Dr. Crosby's favorite hymns, " I Love 
to Tell the Story." At its close Dr. Taylor 
made an address, speaking from manuscript, 
and saying, in part : 

" The purpose of any words spoken on an 
occasion like this is rather the comforting of 
the living than the eulogizing of the dead. 
But when, as now, the magnitude of our loss 
is, at the same time, so large an element in 
our consolation, we cannot but dwell for a lit- 
tle on the excellencies of our departed brother, 
and 'glorify God in him.' The dominant prin- 
ciple in Dr. Crosby's character was truth. He 
was always loyal to that which he believed 
to be true, because he was intensely devoted to 
Him in whom the truth was incarnate. He 
hated everything like cant, or sham, or hypoc- 
risy; and was himself transparently sincere. He 
followed conscience fully and unflinchingly ; but 
first he sought to have his conscience enlight- 
ened by the study of the Scriptures, and the 
illumination of the Holy Spirit of God. He 
was true to himself, but first that self was true 
to God ; and when he was convinced on any 
subject, he carried that conviction courageously 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 45 

through, at whatever sacrifice, and in the face 
of every antagonism. It might be said of him 
with as much truth as of the great reformer, 
that 'he never feared the face of man.' His 
earnestness was as a burning fire within him ; his 
energy was like a whirlwind, and his words 
were impassioned. Though he acted primarily 
from conscience there was in him also an im- 
pulsive impetuosity which bore him on like a 
flood. Now and then, as was inevitable in one 
with such a temperament, he might be carried 
to the border of rashness, and even be hurried 
across it, but if ever this happened the same 
impulsiveness was seen in the readiness and the 
fulness with which he hastened to apologize for 
the fault and the regret which he manifested 
for it. His intensity was tremendous. He 
seemed always to be focalized. Whatever was 
the subject in which he was engaged, or the 
object which he was pursuing, he was always 
'totus in illo.' He was nothing by half. Wher- 
ever he was, he was all there, and in general his 
ardor was steered by wisdom. He abhorred 'the 
falsehood of extremes,' and with all his eager- 
ness to gain his ends he refused to take what 
seemed to be the shortest way, if that led 
through a quagmire or ended in a marsh. So 
it came to pass that he frequently differed 
about means, from those who were seeking the 



46 Howard Crosby. 

same ends with himself, and was sometimes 
greatly misunderstood and misjudged by them. 
But that did not distress him, neither did it 
cause him to be unjust to them. He held on 
straightforward, I say straightforward, for that 
was one of the beautiful features of his char- 
acter. He believed and acted upon the belief 
that ' a straight line is the shortest possible 
distance between any two points,' and all sinuosity 
or crooked policy, or underhand manoeuvring, 
were absolutely and entirely foreign to his nat- 
ure. As a preacher and pastor, the same char- 
acteristics were conspicuous in his work and in 
his deportment. He knew what he believed 
and why he believed it, and he preached it with 
earnestness, boldness, and rugged simplicity. 
His style was direct and unadorned." 

Dr. Taylor next dwelt upon Dr. Crosby's 
home life, where he was " simply charming," 
and of his humor with his friends, which was 
frequently a " means of grace " to the speaker. 
After speaking of his patriotism, he referred 
to a letter just received from Dr. Storrs, of 
Brooklyn, who spoke of Dr. Crosby's " superb 
and fruitful labors." He gave two or three 
incidents of Dr. Crosby's last day on earth, 
and closed with these words : 

" Farewell for a season, loved and honored 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 47 

brother. Thou wert one of God's own mailed 
knights, arrayed in the panoply of Heaven, with 
girdle of truth and breastplate of righteousness, 
and shoes of readiness, and shield of faith, 
and sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of 
God. It was thine to wrestle against 'the 
rulers of the darkness of this world ' with cour- 
age and constancy and no mean success. Rest 
in thy Master's presence. Lay by the hope 
helmet for the glory crown. Put away the 
sword for the palm ; take thy place among the 
conquerors by the cross, and when we, thy com- 
panions, have to write the 'finally' in our life's 
discourse, may each of us, like thee, be able to 
say, ' God is with me ' in that honest hour, 
and that will be the sure prelude that we shall 
be, as thou art, with God. " 

Dr. King offered a prayer in closing the 
exercises, Dr. McArthur read the hymn " When 
I Can Read My Title Clear," and Dr. Hall 
pronounced the benediction. 

RELATIVES AND FRIENDS PRESENT. 

Professor Nicholas E. Crosby and his sister, 
Miss Grace, were the only members of the im- 
mediate family at the public service. Other 
relatives present included Henry Crosby, a 



48 Howard Crosby. 

brother of the pastor, and his sister, Miss Mary 
Crosby ; Mrs. Edward N. Crosby, Walter F. 
Crosby, Frederick V. S. Crosby, Dr. and Mrs. 
S. Beach, J. Jones, Mr. and Mrs. John Lindley, 
W. H. Doughty, Miss Von Schoonover, Mrs. 
McKenzie, ex-Governor Crosby of Montana, 
and Colonel Floyd Clarkson, Department Com- 
mander of the Grand Army of the Republic. 

Near the pulpit sat the Rev. Dr. John Cal- 
vin Stockbridge, of Brown University, Provi- 
dence, who, with Dr. Crosby and Dr. Storrs, of 
Brooklyn, received the degree of D.D. from 
Harvard in 1859. Dr. Storrs was unable to at- 
tend, but sent a letter to Dr. Taylor explaining 
his affection for Dr. Crosby, and his regret 
that he could not attend the services. Two 
venerable men noticed were Charles Butler, of 
the University Council, Dr. Crosby's senior in 
age by twenty-four years ; and the father of F. 
D. Tappen, of the Gallatin Bank, now ninety- 
five years old. The list of pall-bearers, who 
included all the officers of the church, was 
published in The Tribune yesterday. Reuben 
Langdon was detained by illness, and Warner 
Van Norden, of Dr. Hall's church, for many 
years an officer in the Fourth Avenue Church, 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 49 

was invited to serve with them. Among the 
clergymen present were these : 

Bishop Henry C. Potter, Bishop E. G. An- 
drews, Rabbi H. P. Mendes, D. Parker Morgan, 
Charles L. Thompson, W. D. Buchanan, R. C. 
Morse, J. C. Nightingale, G. J. Mingins, L. R. 
Foote, Henry Van Dyke, Theodore L. Cuyler, 
J. S. Chambers, Jacob Freshman, A. W. Hal- 
sey, A. G. RulifTson, L. W. Barney, Henry B. 
Chapin, Robert R. Booth, J. M. Buchanan, H. 
T. McEwen, A. F. Schauffler, Henry Wilson, 
Robert Collyer, H. Y. Satterlee, C. H. Park- 
hurst, Henry Mottet, John C, Bliss, President 
T. S. Hastings, W. G. T. Shedd, Philip Schaff 
and G. L. Prentiss, of the Union Theological 
Seminary, George S. Chambers, of Pittsburg ; 
W. T. Sabine, W. W. Knox, J. R. Fisher, R. 
W. Kidd, Jesse W. Brooks, Hugh B. McCauley, 
George H. McGrew, David G. Wylie, Albert 
Erdman, John Balcom Shaw, Conrad Doench, 
B. B. Tyler, G. H. Mandeville, S. H. Virgin, 
J. B. Remensnyder, E. Walpole Warren, G. W. 
S. Birch, Wendell Prime, David Gregg and A. 
E. Kittredge. 

Representing the University, besides Dr. Hall, 
Dr. Crosby's successor as Chancellor, and a 



50 Howard Crosby. 

large delegation of students, there were : Vice- 
Chancellor Henry M. McCracken, Charles Butler, 
William Allan Butler, J. W. C. Leveridge, the 
Rev. Dr. Charles F. Deems, William L. An- 
drews, the Rev. Dr. Roderick Terry, Samuel 
Sloan, the Rev. Dr George Alexander, George 
Munro, William F. Havemeyer, and Israel C. 
Pierson. The faculties of the university were 
represented by Charles I. Pardee, dean of the 
medical faculty ; William M. Polk, L. A. Stim- 
son, Rudolph A. Witthaus, W. Gilman Thomp- 
son, E. Le Favre, George Woolsey, and W. C. 
Jarvis, Henry M. Baird, George W. Coakley, 
J. J. Stevenson, A. H. Gallatin, D. W. Hering, 
Abram S. Isaacs, Jerome Allen, Francis H. 
Stoddard, Robert W. Hall, D. A. Murray, D. 
R. Jaques and Isaac F. Russell. 

Among the large number of business men 
were these : A. D. F. Randolph, William E. 
Dodge, Morris K. Jessup, R. P. Poole, R. R. 
McBurney, Theodore M. Roche, Kiliaen Van 
Rensselaer, E. F. Shepard, William Harman 
Brown, President E. N. Potter, of Hobart Col- 
lege, ex-Mayor A. S. Hewitt, E. G. Sproull, 
ex-President William C. Cattell, of Lafayette 
College ; Charles A. Keeler, William S. Brazier, 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 5 1 

ex-Judge Arnoux, Benjamin H. Field, ex-Judge 
Noah Davis, ex-Mayor Wickham, James Talcott, 
Cleveland H. Dodge, John Crosby Brown, ex- 
Governor McCormick, of Arizona ; A. B. De 
Freece, Cephas Brainerd, David H. Whitney, 
Charles E. Gildersleeve, William Wade, and 
William A. Harding. 

WATCHING BESIDE THEIR PASTOR. 

The ushers were Archer V. Pancoast, John 
McCrea, Wallace Sterry, the Rev. Charles F. 
Cutter, William de la Montaigne, Samuel 
Voorhees, and Thornton B. Penfield. After the 
services it was decided among the church 
friends of Dr. Crosby to hold voluntary watches 
beside the coffin in the church during the 
night. The following remained at the church 
from 7 p.m. until 12 o'clock: Walter Edwards, 
George W. Lithgow, Edward Thorpe, and Mer- 
win J. McMillan. At 12 o'clock the following 
went to remain until 6 o'clock : Richard C. 
Jackson, the Rev. John B. Devins, James C. 
Goddard, and Thornton B. Penfield. At 11 p.m. 
F. Edwin Elwell took a cast of one of Dr. 
Crosby's hands. 



52 Harvard Crosby. 

TWO EASTER NOTICES 



HOWARD CROSBY. 



Amid the culminating joy and thanksgiving 
of Easter-day, borne upon a great wave of 
song and praise, the earth-worn spirit of How- 
ard Crosby ascended to the author of life and 
the destroyer of death, another golden sheaf 
of that illimitable harvest of which Christ was 
"the first fruit." 

He was denied the privilege of preaching 
his usual Easter sermon, but he enjoyed the 
greater beatitude of entering into the full frui- 
tion of " the power of an endless life," and 
of expressing the joy of earth in the dialect 
of heaven. 

How great a privilege was his to emphasize 
the glowing sentiments of his ministerial breth- 
ren by the sublime spectacle of a Christian's 
victorious death, and gathering up the best 
things in human thought, devotion and homage 
amid the closing scenes and services of the 
Easter festival on earth, to lay them at the feet 
of the World's Deliverer, as an expression of 
the love and gratitude of rejoicing Christendom. 






Life, Sickness, and Death. 53 

In the death of Howard Crosby the whole 
country sustains a serious loss. He was the 
friend of all. The champion of every good 
cause, he gave unstinted service to the church 
and State alike. 

There is no man among us who yielded more 
unselfish devotion, and who exercised a more 
potent influence, in behalf of the general well- 
being of this city and State. 

He will be long remembered as an able min- 
ister and a splendid scholar, but longest and 
most tenderly will his memory be cherished as 
the sympathetic friend, the fearless champion of 
the poor, the friendless and the erring. 

A life well rounded and full orbed, he ascend- 
ed a conqueror, thrilled with the blended joy 
of earth and heaven, taking part in the Easter 
praise and thanksgiving of both worlds. 



Yesterday was a most remarkable Easter in 
many respects. To begin with, it will be many 
years before we will celebrate it in March again, 
then again, while the majority of people were 
enjoying the joyous Easter services in the 
churches, death was busy in several quarters, its 



54 Howard Crosby. 

most distinguished victim being the Rev. How- 
ard Crosby. Warden Osborne was another of 
its victims, while no less than four disconsolate 
beings sought to end their existence by suicide. 
Another attempt was made to burn a crowded 
tenement on the East Side, and a destructive 
lire in Jersey City also added to the many inci- 
dents of a remarkable day. 



[From the " Evangelist.'"] 

Howard Crosby, D.D., LL.D. 



He is gone to the grave ! And the world 
seems colder, poorer, lonelier, than before. 
When the tidings came, which had been for 
some days expected, the first feeling was that 
of a personal loss that was irreparable, for we 
have not many friends whom we have loved so 
long and loved so well. It is full thirty-five 
years — half the allotted term of man upon the 
earth — since our acquaintance began, which soon 
ripened into friendship, and grew stronger year 
by year to the end. It was an honor, as well 
as a great happiness, to have the friendship of 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 55 

such a man. And it is a great deal to be able 
to say, that in the constant intimacy of all these 
years, he never once spoke a word, or did an 
act, that gave us pain. A friendship so con- 
stant and so true has filled a large space in our 
life, and it is sad indeed, to think that we shall 
not look upon his face again. 

But we must not dwell on our personal rela- 
tions. Dr. Crosby was made not only for 
private friendship, but for public influence. He 
never arose in any assembly that he did not at 
once command attention by his presence, his 
large brain, and open, manly countenance ; an im- 
pression that was immediately confirmed by his 
powerful ringing voice, to which an audience, 
however dull it might be, or indifferent to the 
subject, or even opposed to the speaker, could 
not choose but hear. All saw that here was a 
man who had the courage of his convictions ; 
who thought for himself and who was not afraid 
to say what he thought in any presence ; and 
hence it was that he became a positive force in 
any " Congress " in which he bore a part. 
Those who were present at the meeting of our 
General Assembly in Baltimore in 1873, will 
remember with what dignity, though he was 



5 ": Hi \ 

then but forty-seven years old, he presided over 
it : with what grace he received the delegates 
from foreign boci-rs and how he guided the 
deliberations, so that the business moved forward 
smoothly and rapidly. 

Bur it was not only in ecclesiastical bodies that 
Dr. Crosby was a man of influence and power. 
He touched life at many points. As one of 
the first Greek scholars in the country, he took 
high rank in the guild of literary men ; while, 
as a native of this city, he felt a natural inter- 
est and pride in its growth and prosperity. 
Hence he felt the keenest shame that it should 
be badly governed, and felt it to be a part of 
his duty to exert himself actively for a better 
administration of its affairs. Instead of making 
his clerical office, or his scholarly studies, an 
excuse for neglecting his duties as a citizen, he 
felt that the city of his birth had a claim on 
him all the more for whatever of influence they 
might give him. No position was too sacred 
to be used for the public good. And hence no 
layman was more active in his efforts to purify 
the political atmosphere of this city. There 
was no man who was better known to the 
police, or who was more constantly urging them 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 57 

to the performance of their duty, in breaking 
up the vile dens which line our streets, and are 
the source of so much vice and crime. In this 
work it is not too much to say that he has 
done more for us than any other man, for 
which he is entitled to the noble appellation 
of our first citizen. 

But much as he gave of his time to public 
affairs, and fond as he was of his classical stud- 
ies, and great as was his delight in meeting 
with his club of " Grecians," to read together 
the dialogues of Plato, or the poems of Homer 
(of which he preferred the Odyssey to the 
Iliad); yet over and above all he was a minis- 
ter of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to preach 
it was the work which he loved the most. 
Even while he was a Professor of Greek in the 
University in this city, and afterwards in Rut- 
gers College, his heart was all the time turned 
toward the pulpit, and to this he devoted the 
last twenty-eight years of his life. 

Here his scholarship came to its noblest use 
in opening to him " hidden treasures." So fa- 
miliar was he with the Greek Testament, that 
you could not name to him a single passage in 
English of which he would not give you in- 



58 Howard Crosby. 

stantlv the original. And he studied it, not 
merely with the critical eye of a scholar, but 
with the humble faith of a believer, for he car- 
ried the doctrine of inspiration to the farthest 
point, saying, with emphasis, " I believe in the 
literal, verbal inspiration of the Bible." So be- 
lieving, he preached with the power which faith 
alone can give. 

All these gifts and graces were blended in a 
personality which grew upon us as we knew 
him longer and better, drawing us toward him 
with an ever-increasing regard. It was not the 
scholar that we admired so much as the man ; 
who was made to inspire strong attachment. 
He was a friend to trust and a brother to love. 
To have known such a man was a privilege for 
which we are grateful to God : and still further 
to be assured that we in return had his fullest 
confidence and affection. Such friendships can- 
not perish. They have in themselves a pledge 
of immortality. And so, as we part, it is with 
the feeling that it is not forever, but only " un- 
til the day break and the shadows flee away." 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 59 

[From the " New York Observer.'''] 

DEATH OF REV. HOWARD CROSBY, D.D.. LLD. 



The Rev. Howard Crosby, D.D., died last 
Sunday afternoon at his home in this city. His 
last sickness was caused by a severe cold con- 
tracted March 18th in Troy, where he was called 
by the sudden death of his second daughter, 
Mrs. A. H. Allen. He was seriously ill the 
day of his daughter's funeral, and on his return 
home steadily failed till last Saturday. He was 
then thought to be better, but on Sunday after- 
noon he passed peacefully away. He suffered 
much pain in his sickness, but Saturday night 
he secured four hours' sleep. 

The last time he was able to take charge of 
a public service was on Tuesday a week ago, 
when he led the study of the Sunday-school 
lesson in his church parlor. This was the day 
before his daughter died. 

Howard Crosby was of Knickerbocker descent, 
and connected on both sides with prominent 
persons in the Revolutionary and State history. 
William B. Crosby, his father, inherited large 
wealth from an uncle, Colonel Henry Rutgers, 



60 Howard Crosby. 

who adopted him and who endowed the college 
at New Brunswick which bears his name. Dr. 
Crosby's grandfather, Dr. Ebenezer Crosby, was a 
professor at Columbia College, and General W. 
Floyd, his great grandfather, signed the Declar- 
ation of Independence, and was a member of 
the first National Congress. Howard Crosby 
was born in this city, February 27, 1826. At 
the age of fourteen he entered the University 
of the City of New York, and graduated first 
in Greek in a class of forty-five members, who 
had Dr. Taylor Lewis for their teacher. He 
received his diploma in 1844, and then worked 
for three years on a farm in Dutchess County in 
this State. About two years after his marriage in 
1849, Dr. Crosby and his wife took a two-years' 
trip through Europe, Egypt, Arabia and Pales- 
tine. As a memento of this tour he published, 
in 1851, " The Lands of the Moslem." 

On the resignation by Professor Lewis of the 
chair of Greek in the University of the City of 
New York, about the time of his return from 
the East, Dr. Crosby was elected to the vacant 
professorship. This position he held for eight 
years. During this time he taught a Sabbath 
Bible class for young men and aided in the for- 



Life j Sickness, and Death. 61 

mation of the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion of this city. In 1859 ne accepted the 
Greek professorship in Rutgers College, at New 
Brunswick, and two years later became pastor 
of the First Presbyterian Church of that city, 
and for sixteen months did double duty as 
pastor and professor. In March, 1863, he ac- 
cepted the call to the Fourth Avenue Presby- 
terian Church of this city, and since that time 
has faithfully discharged his pastoral duties to 
that congregation and identified himself with 
every good movement for the welfare of this 
city. In 1863 the Fourth Avenue Church had 
120 members, a debt of $25,000, and its total 
offerings were $2,500 ; now it has 1,564 mem- 
bers, and gives about $30,000 for various 
purposes. The debt was raised soon after Dr. 
Crosby began his work. In 1864 Hope Chapel, 
in East Fourth Street, near Avenue C, was 
organized, and, in the year following, Grace 
Mission, in East Twenty-second Street. There 
are 1,500 children in the church and mission 
schools. For ten years the church supported a 
mission for the Chinese in White Street. A 
reception was given to Dr. Crosby in his 
church, on March 5, 1883, to celebrate the 



62 Howard Crosby. 

twentieth anniversary of his pastorate. Among 
the prominent clergymen who took part in the 
exercises was Rev. Dr. John Hall, who said of 
the pastor: "I have had the privilege of work- 
ing with him for sixteen years, and the more I 
have seen of him and have found how humane, 
how gentle and how tender his character is, the 
more I have loved him. Of his courageous, 
fearless exposure of what is wrong, it is need- 
less for me to speak." Five years later a simi- 
lar service was held, at which the same 
testimony to his high character and usefulness 
was borne. Dr. Crosby was made a member of 
the council of his alma mater in 1864, and in 
1870 was elected to the chancellorship of the 
same institution, and held the position till 1881. 
In addition to his active interest in the affairs 
of the University, Dr. Crosby was zealous in 
the cause of temperance, as distinguished from 
total abstinence, and was president of the 
Society for the Prevention of Crime. He also 
took an active interest in political matters. He 
was a thorough Presbyterian, but he never 
graduated from any theological seminary. He 
always took his full share of work in denomi- 
national affairs, and in 1873 ne wa s the Moder- 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 6 



j 



ator of the General Assembly, which met that 
year in Baltimore. In 1876 he was sent to the 
first meeting of the Pan-Presbyterian Council, 
which met at Edinburgh, and read a paper 
there on the " Christian Ministry." He was also 
one of the speakers at the centennial services 
of the Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia in 
1888. He was the author of several books, 
some of which have had a wide circulation. 
Two brothers and a sister survive him, Pro- 
fessor William Henry Crosby, Robert Ralston 
Crosby and Miss Mary Crosby, all of this city. 
His children are ex-Assemblyman Ernest H. 
Crosby, the eldest son, who was appointed one 
of the judges of the International Court at 
Cairo by President Harrison ; Miss Edith Cros- 
by, who is with her brother in Cairo ; Professor 
Nicholas E. Crosby and the youngest daughter, 
Miss Grace Crosby. 

To this I will add a few more particulars of those last days. He 
asked for paper and pencil and wrote what he could not speak, expressions 
of submission and trust in God — as " I bow before Him" — " T take His 
hand." Only an hour before his death he again called for paper and pencil, 
when he wrote affectionately to his people, addressing as their representa- 
tive the senior elder, Mr. George E. Sterry. Mr S had it printed and 

circulated among the members of the church. At one time he gazed up- 
wards with an intense and angelic expression, exclaiming slowly, "I see 
father and mother and Willie and Agnes and I too am per- 
mitted to be there." 



64 Howard Crosby. 

At another time he asked what day it was ; on being told it was Friday, 
he asked when is resurrection day ? — the name by which he frequently called 
the Sabbath — when answered in two days, he gave a moaning sigh, as if that 
was far off. Did he long for the earthly courts in which he so much delighted, 
or did he know that on that coming Sabbath he was to pass from earth to 
the heavenly courts above ? When delirious his wanderings of mind were 
all toward God and heaven, and so touching, as to quite overcome even the 
nurse in attendance. In moments of less suffering, his natural playfulness 
and humor would return, and force a smile from those around even in their 
sadness. At the end he turned over on his side, reclining his head on his 
hand, and seemed sweetly sleeping as his spirit passed away to its eternal 
rest — "Asleep in Jesus." 

M. C. 



{From the "New York Observer," September 17, 1891.] 
HOWARD CROSBY. 



It is not true, dear friend, it is not true 

What the great English Senator hath said, 
"The age of chivalry is past." For you 

Have shown the saying false. 

Who calls thee dead ? 
" Dead ? " As a knight is, when he doth but lay 

Aside his armor with the battle won ; 
Dead as a knight is, who hath gone away 

In better mail, beneath another sun, 
To urge far fiercer battles in the fray 

'Twixt Right and Wrong, where thou canst 
clearly see 
The lines which often in thy mortal day 

Were hidden in smoke of struggle. We 
Think only of thy palpitating soul 

That longed to strike the tyrant down and see 
The weak uplifted and the sick made whole. 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 65 

The King hath touched thy shoulder with his 
sword 

Again, Sir Knight, and bidden thee once more 
rise ; 
And thou hast hearkened to thy royal Lord. 

Go up, go up unto thy well-won skies, 
While we stay here and think and talk of thee, 

Until we too shall have our summons hence, 
So by thy name make men love chivalry 

And dare do right without mean thought of 

consequence. 

Charles F. Deems. 



THE DYING BELIEVER'S SONG. 

BY REV. PETER STRYKER, D.D. 



My heart is sweetly resting 

On Jesus Christ my Lord. 
He will not fail, Who loves me, 

His blessing to afford. 
I know that I am nothing, 

But He is all in all, 
I'll trust Him, living, dying, 

Whatever may befall. 
2. 
My heart is sweetly resting 

On Jesus; and my hand 
His hand is clasping firmly, 

As near me He doth stand. 



66 Howard Crosby. 

He's with me, blessed Saviour; 

I lean upon His breast, 
And in His loving presence 

I feel supremely blest. 

3- 

My heart is sweetly resting 

On Jesus ; and He's come 
To take my ransomed spirit 

To His eternal home. 
Farewell, farewell, beloved, 

The hand once pierced for me 
Is holding mine, and quickly 

In Heaven I will be. 



[From the " Christian Inquirer.' 1 ''] 
IN MEMORIAM — DR. HOWARD CROSBY. 



Almost his last words were: " I place my hand in the hand 
of Jesus." 



My hand in the hand of Jesus, 

The hand that was pierced for me, 

My hand in the hand of Jesus, 
Till His blessed face I see. 

All this the days of my waiting 
On earth I have lived for His love, 

And now my sweet Jesus, He cometh, 
To take me to rest above. 



Life, Sickness, and Death, 67 

My hand in the hand of Jesus, 

And my heart can know no fear, 
O'er the dark waters of Jordan, 

The bark of my life He will steer. 

On to the home of the blessed, 

The home He has builded for me, 
I give Him my hand and He takes me, 

And leadeth me where I would be. 

I close mine eyes in the darkness 

(But He holdeth my hand the while), 

I open mine eyes in His glory, 
And I meet my Saviour's smile. 

Oh blessed, oh glorious, the ending, 
Of a life where Christ's hand hath led, 

He leaves me not when I need Him, 
He waits at my dying bed. 

Oh mourners cease your weeping, 

Oh not for Him be your tears, 
For us is the sorrow and sighing, 

But for Him the joyous years. 

Once more the hand of Jesus 

Shall take his dear hand, and say, 
" Sit down by my throne, thou blessed, 

On my right hand forever to stay." 

M. F. Cusack ( The Nun of Kenmare). 



68 Howard Crosby. 

LAST PRAYER MEETING ADDRESS 

BY 

REV. HOWARD CROSBY. 



MARCH ii, 1891, FROM NOTES BY ONE PRESENT, 
EIGHTEEN DAYS BEFORE HIS DEATH. 



VICTORY OVER DEATH! 

I COR. xv. 54, 57. 



Human power can change similar things to 
similar things ; divine power can change oppo- 
site things to opposite things. Divine power 
can take a sinner steeped in sin, without a 
single mitigation of his sin, and make him a saint, 
make him holy as God is holy. And so, too, 
where to human eyes is the darkest cloud, 
there divine grace shines the brightest. The 
passage for the evening is an illustration of 
this. It is a paean of victory which all may 
sing with emphasis, if they belong to Christ, if 
they are in him. It has a likeness to what 
occurred at the grave of Lazarus. When the 
body of Lazarus lay in the tomb, Jesus said to 
his sisters two things. A cursory reading does 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 69 

not show this double meaning, but if we care- 
fully examine the statement we shall find that 
Jesus speaks of the body, and he speaks of the 
man, the soul, life, being. " I am the resurrec- 
tion (that is, of the body) and the life (that 
is of the soul, the man, the being). He that 
believeth in me, though he were dead (the 
body's death), yet shall he live (the body's 
resurrection); and whosoever liveth and believ- 
eth in me, shall never die " (referring to the 
man, the soul, the life, the being). The two 
thoughts are clearly set forth. Then came the 
resurrection of Lazarus as a type or sacrament 
of the truth. It was the seal put to what the 
Lord said for his people for all time. The body 
shall rise again, the soul shall never die. 

This same double statement is found in the 
passage before us. " So when this corruptible 
shall have put on incorruption (the body and 
its resurrection), and this mortal (the body) 
shall have put on immortality, then shall be 
accomplished (or completed) the saying that is 
written, Death is swallowed up in victory," as 
that grand finality when the body raised shall 
be joined to the soul that never died. As long 
as the body is not raised, there is a semblance 



70 Howard Crosby. 

of death's victory over the dust ; when the body 
is raised, there is nothing left of death, not 
even a show. 

Nor is this all The apostle goes on quoting 
from the Old Testament. " O death, where is 
thy sting? O hades (not grave." He had 
finished speaking of the grave in the verse be- 
fore). "O death, where is thy sting? O hades 
(the lower world, the unseen world), where is 
thy victory?" Hades has no victory over the 
soul, the man, the being, why? " The sting of 
death (which is the gate into the unseen world) 
is sin." That which makes men afraid of death, 
that which makes death horrid is sin, and sin 
brings with it the fearful looking for of judg- 
ment, the pangs of conscience, the forebodings 
of approaching retribution, for "the strength of 
sin is the law." But we in Christ have fulfilled the 
law. The righteousness demanded by the law 
is fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh 
but after the spirit. The law has nothing 
against us, and so sin has no strength, God has 
given us the victory through our Lord Jesus 
Christ. Through him we get the righteousness, 
the precious gift from the God of our salvation, 
through him, the obedience of the law is ful- 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 71 

filled in us. And so for us death is absolutely 
banished, is made naught, is made good for 
nothing, as the Greek reads in another Scrip- 
ture, which we have translated, ''abolished 
death." For us Christ has made death as if it had 
never existed. For unbelievers, death is dread- 
ful, but for us, there is not the slightest thing 
in death to dread, not the slightest thing to 
trouble us, or to cause us a single fear. 

" But many Christians fear death." Well, 
they ought not to fear it. All who are in 
Christ ought to look upon what is called death 
(using the common phraseology and meaning 
the death of the body), we ought to look upon 
this with the greatest delight. What is death 
to you and to me ! " I go to prepare a place 
for you (it is our Lord who speaks) ; and if I 
go to prepare a place for you, I will come 
again and receive you unto myself, that where 
I am ye may be also." Now, is the coming of 
the Lord Jesus to take me unto himself, to 
take me unto his own eternal home to dwell 
there with him forever — is this a thing for me 
to fear ? Is it not something for me to hail 
with delight? Ought I not to look forward to 
it as the greatest joy in existence? If I am 



72 Howard Crosby. 

found dreading death, I am showing myself a 
coward, and I am insulting my Lord. Death 
to me should be a thing longed for. The 
thought of death should be to me an ecstasy of 
joy. 

" But the pain attending death makes me 
shrink from it." I can say this in answer to 
such an objection. Every one of us, no doubt, 
has suffered from disease a bodily pain ten 
times more severe than we shall feel in dying. 

1 have been by a hundred death-beds, and in 
all death was easy. A disease of three or four 
days, from which one recovers, often causes far 
more pain than the departure of the soul from 
the body. The sting of death is gone for us. 
Our sins have been blotted out. No condemna- 
tion is written against us ; the law has no 
punishment recorded against us. There is noth- 
ing in our way. Why should we not rejoice and 
give thanks when we see death approaching? 

Note one thing stated here about the body. 
" This corruptible shall put on incorruption, and 
this mortal shall put on immortality." In the 
second epistle to the Corinthians, fifth chapter, 
we read this: " Not that we would be unclothed, 
but clothed upon." In one sense my present 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 73 

body is not to be raised. If it were raised it 
would be a corruptible body, but I am to put 
on an incorruptible body. My identity is to be 
preserved in some way. I don't know how, but 
God knows. I know this much. I know that 
there is not an atom in my body to-day that 
was there thirty years ago, and I know that my 
identity has not altered in the least during these 
thirty years. The power of God raises the 
body from the grave, not man's invention, and 
in some way the identity is retained, though 
not a particle of the body is the same. It is 
the same body and not the same. It is the 
body corruptible made incorruptible, made like 
unto the glorious body of our Lord. You know 
how the apostle represents this in figure. The 
seed is sown and springs up according to the 
kind sown, and yet in one sense, the seed sown 
dies before the fruit can come forth. It is the 
same and not the same. 

I think there is more than this. I think we 
are right in thinking that we shall never be 
without a body. As soon as this earthly taber- 
nacle be dissolved, we have (not " shall have 
after a long period " of waiting) a house not 
made with hands, eternal, in the heavens. In 



74 Howard Crosby. 

some way we cannot now tell, we shall have a 
body before our present body is raised from the 
grave to be forever joined to the soul. We 
shall never be found naked, never be without a 
body. That we cannot understand the method 
does not trouble us. We know in whom we 
have believed ; we know that he has almighty 
power and almighty wisdom ; and we know that 
we are safe, body and soul, in Jesus Christ. 

Ought we not to chant paens of victory every 
day ? If we would think less about our present 
condition and more about our future glory, 
would we not be daily singing the triumph-song, 
" O death where is thy sting ! O hades, where 
is thy victory ! Thanks be to God who giveth 
us the victory through our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ?" And then with our eyes fixed 
on our heavenly home, and our hearts full of 
longing for its holiness and for the companion- 
ship of our dear Lord, would not our cry also 
be, "Come Lord Jesus, come quickly?" All 
that is sweet, all that is lovely here on earth 
shall be ours there, and he shall be the centre 
of all. Without one regret, without one sorrow, 
with rapturous joy, we should run to meet, not 
death, but our dear Lord. 



Life, Sickness, and Death. 75 

This is our privilege. We Christians have 
nothing to do with the world's thoughts and 
feelings about death. We parted company with 
the world when we began to walk in the ways 
of righteousness. We breathe a different atmo- 
sphere from the world ; we have learned some 
things the world cannot know. Why should we 
go to the world's poets or the world's philo- 
sophers to get their ideas about death ! Let us 
rather go to the Bible and hear our Lord tell- 
ing us that for us death is changed to victory. 
The world talks about looking down, about the 
pall, the coffin, the grave, the blackness of 
death. We have nothing to do with such 
thoughts. To us, death means looking up, 
means brightness, joy, glory, Christ. Let us 
live up to our high privilege. 



7 6 Howard Crosby. 



CHAPTER II. 

TRIBUTES TO DR. CROSBY. 



A BEAUTIFUL ACROSTIC. 

Among the truest, and therefore best, things 
sung about the great Chancellor, Moderator, Pres- 
ident, Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Laws, Minis- 
ter of Christ, Orator, Man, Howard Crosby, is the 
following beautiful acrostic on his name by his 
lifelong friend, the Rev. Dr. Henry D. Ganse : * 

How should a man be made — 

Of what choice parts compounded? 

With skill of schools how well arrayed, 

And with what graces rounded ? 

Reveal some princely nature, strong and just, 

Divinely ripened, for the poor to trust. 

Courage, that fears not man nor devil; 
Revolt at all enthroned evil; 
Outright resolve, that won't be routed; 
Sincerity that can't be doubted. 
Back all this strength with lore divine and human, 
Yet keep your Great Heart tender as a woman. 
*Dr. Ganse died September 8, of the same year (1891). 



Memorial Tributes. 77 

[From the "New York Observer" of April, 1891.] 

HOWARD CROSBY. 



In another column we have made a record of 
the life and death of the pastor of the Fourth 
Avenue Presbyterian Church. Here we record 
our personal sorrow in the loss of a strong and 
noble friend. To know such a man was an en- 
couragement in every pure aspiration and unself- 
ish work. Dr. Crosby's intellectual force and 
moral energy do not account for the place he 
occupied in the hearts of great numbers of persons 
in this city and throughout the country. This 
was the result of personal qualities and social 
sympathies, which brought him an unusual share 
of warm and deep affection. He was as tender- 
hearted and sympathetic as he was strong and 
fearless. All that was loving and beautiful in his 
dying was characteristic of his living, for no one 
was more considerate, unselfish aud trustful. He 
had a youthful delight in pleasantries that are 
sparks from the anvil of genuine humor, and, at 
the proper season, he was a large contributor to 
the illumination. During the last fifteen years we 
were with him often in his hours of relaxation. 



;S Howard Crosby. 

Those who knew him in this way most appreciate 
the remarkable combination of strength and sweet- 
ness in his mind and spirit. It was his immense 
expenditure of himself, in all possible ways, for 
the church, the community, the city, the country, 
that makes his death a loss that is so deeply and 
widely felt. In private and in public, as a clergy- 
man and a citizen, his time, strength, learning and 
labor, were at the service of poor and rich, friend 
and stranger, deserving and undeserving. Fre- 
quently we have been astonished at the discovery 
of particular instances in which this man of great 
responsibilities and varied obligations had devoted 
himself to personal work for the help of the fallen. 
Few gifted men have been so lavish in the out- 
pouring of their gifts. He was completely free 
from the selfishness and narrowness that are so 
often characteristic of high position and great 
success. Having received the gift he ministered 
the same to another, as a good steward of the 
manifold grace of God. Had his spirit been less 
eager, it may be that his life had been longer. It 
seemed to us often that he might have husbanded 
his vital powers with advantage for the future of 
his life and work. But this might have lessened 
the brightness and efficiency of what he was 



Memorial Tributes. 79 

permitted to accomplish. He fought a good fight 
before his course was finished, and we must not 
murmur because it was time for him to receive his 
crown of glory. 



Philadelphia Ministers' Tribute 

TO 

DR. HOWARD CROSBY. 



The news of Dr. Crosby's illness awakened 
sympathetic illness in many hearts, both of min- 
isters and people in this city. The daily bulletins 
regarding his condition were watched with sad 
feeling, and when the papers on Monday morning 
announced that the great man was gone, there was 
deep sorrow. It happened that on that morning 
there was no separate meeting of the Presbyterian 
ministers. 

At the regular Quarterly Meeting of the Min- 
isterial Union of Philadelphia, comprising the 
different Associations, the Rev. Dr. Wayland, 
Editor of The National Baptist, presented a 
tender and affectionate resolution on the death of 
Dr. Crosby. The resolution was very heartily 



So Howard Crosby. 

seconded by the Rev. Dr. Fernley, of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, and unanimously adopted 
by the Union. 

Immediately after the adjournment of the Union, 
a special meeting of the Presbyterian Ministerial 
Association was held, and a committee, consisting 
of the Revs. C. A. Dickey, D.D., H. A. Nelson, 
D.D., W. W. McKinney, D.D., and William Hut- 
ton, D.D., was appointed to prepare a minute on 
the death of Dr. Crosby. Rev. Dr. Cattel was 
appointed chairman of a delegation to attend the 
funeral on Tuesday, in New York. The follow- 
ing Minute prepared by the Committee, was 
presented to the Presbyterian Association by Dr. 
Dickey, at its regular Monday meeting, April 6, 
and unanimously adopted by the Association : 

" The Presbyterian Ministers Association of 
Philadelphia, records its appreciation of the large 
and faithful service of Dr. Howard Crosby, and 
expresses its great sorrow over the sudden loss of 
his valuable earthly life. Howard Crosby, born in 
New York, and giving to the place of his birth his 
most conspicuous service, attained a position of 
wide influence, by rare fidelity in the exercise of 
great consecrated gifts. He so profoundly im- 
pressed all who felt his influence with the com- 



Memorial Tributes. 81 

pleteness and sincerity of his character, that his 
valuable life became the property of the kingdom 
of God, his service is acknowledged by the world, 
and his loss is lamented by every friend of Christ 
and by every advocate of righteousness. 

" Howard Crosby, living and dying, honored 
the religion of Christ and the truth of revelation 
with a simplicity of faith and with a courage only 
equalled by a tenderness that ever showed how 
much he loved, and how closely he tried to imitate 
the Master. 

" Howard Crosby sought out sin with the fierce- 
ness of a lion, and pursued it with a courage that 
risked peril and life ; but for sinners he had the 
compassion of Christ, and was ever ready to heal 
the wounds inflicted by the sin he hated. 

" He was positive and earnest, but never pur- 
sued with malice those whom his conscience 
compelled him to oppose. Fidelity and forgive- 
ness, courage and meekness, truth and mercy met 
in his great soul, and his gentleness was his great- 
ness. He was a leader by the vote of confidence, 
and a ruler by the power of his transparent life. 
Others honestly differed with him, and could not 
always agree with his judgment, but none ever 
doubted the sincerity of his convictions. 



82 Howard Crosby. 

" The impression of his life and character has 
only revealed its depth when he is suddenly re- 
moved, and the influence will abide. Howard 
Crosby seemed essential, and never more than in 
the dark hour of the Master's decision to recall 
him. But the orrace that crave the Church such a 
gift was not withdrawn with the gift, and the 
prayer of those who miss his helpful life should be, 
that the Master would make us all nobler and 
gentler by the memories of his courage, fidelity 

and love." 

I. R. Miller. 



[From the " 3,'ew York Tribune" 1891.] 

THE DEATH OF HOWARD CROSBY, 



A notable figure of the time has passed away. 
Dr. Crosby's reputation was not merely local. He 
had taken so large and strenuous a part in affairs 
that his name was familiar in many cities and in 
many States. In the best sense he was a New- 
Yorker through and through, one to whom the 
noblest interests of his native citv were alwavs 
dear, and one who never spared himself in the 



Memorial Tributes. 83 

promotion of every worthy enterprise intended to 
lift it higher. Into every work which he under- 
took he threw all the energies of a singularly earn- 
est and resolute nature. He accomplished a great 
deal in many departments of activity, and the 
place which he leaves vacant is an important one. 

Few citizens of New York have availed them- 
selves of so many opportunities of usefulness and 
put their talents to so good use for the benefit of 
their fellow-men. Years of fruitful service as an 
educator were followed by a long career of benefi- 
cent labors in the pulpit and the parish. Dr. 
Crosby was not only eminent as an educator and 
a minister, but he was an incessant and impressive 
force in everyday affairs apart from college and 
church. He has done more than any other single 
man in this generation to check vice in its most 
offensive forms here ; to restrain the audacity of 
the dramshop, and to root out the dives and evil 
resorts of the town. His labors for the Young 
Men's Christian Association will always be 
kept in mind by all who are familiar with the his- 
tory of that organization, now so splendidly strong 
and prosperous. Every undertaking in the me- 
tropolis which aimed to purify and improve the 
city, to make life here more decent, orderly and 



84 Howard Crosby. 

comfortable, had a vigorous and effective cham- 
pion in Dr. Crosby. By means of his methodical 
habits, his exceptional concentration of mind and 
his tremendous energy, he was accustomed to do 
more work than almost any ordinary half dozen 
men. A long- list of the books which he wrote 
may be found in the sketch of his career which 
The Tribune prints elsewhere. The number of 
sermons and addresses which he made must be al- 
most countless, and these were not heedless and 
hurried outgivings, but were the results of careful 
thought and deep research. 

Dr. Crosby was a great influence, not only in 
the Presbyterian Church, not only in the cause of 
the higher education, not only in mission labors, 
but in every good word and work of his day and 
generation. 



[From Rev. C. U. Tiffany, Florence, Italy.] 

TRIBUTE TO DR. CROSBY 



In closing an eloquent address upon Christi- 
anity and Socialism, at one of the sessions of the 
Evangelical Alliance in Florence, the Rev. C. C. 



Memorial Tributes. 85 

Tiffany, D.D., of New York, paid the following 
tribute to Dr. Crosby, which met the sympathetic 
feelings of men of all nations in the audience who 
had known and loved him as a brother, and some 
of whom had special reasons to remember his 
generous and Christian efforts in their behalf, Dr. 
Tiffany said : 

41 As I laid down my pen at the end of this paper,, 
I took up the Morning Journal and read of the 
sudden death of my friend, the Rev. Dr. Howard 
Crosby of New York. He was a man who,, 
in our country, was perhaps, the most notable 
example we have had of one who being an ac- 
complished scholar, a learned theologian, an inde- 
fatigable pastor and a distinguished preacher, a 
Professor of Greek, and after a Chancellor of an 
University yet stood before the public most con- 
spicuously as a citizen who constantly brought 
Christianity to bear on social questions. He was 
not only cherished in cultivated, refined and re- 
ligious society, but was honored and feared, 
honored in that he was feared in time-serving 
legislatures and by corrupt politicians as a man 
among men, set to force legislation into Christian 
channels, when law infringed upon moral and 
social order. So strong was he and so brave, so 



86 Howard Crosby. 

fully possessed of the courage of his convictions, 
so persistent and so true, amid the clamor of foes, 
the fears of friends and the denunciation of fan- 
atics, so steadfast and strenuous in his determina- 
tion to make Christianity a social power in the 
amelioration of poverty and the extirpation of 
vice, that I am sure no man could be more missed 
in all America as a Christian citizen. As his life 
was so thorough an exemplification of the views I 
have maintained, and as he was a warm friend of 
this Alliance, I felt that I could not sit down with- 
out this mention of his name. He was a noble 
and notable example of a man who could bring 
the highest social position, the fertile resources of a 
thoroughly trained mind, the devotion of a conse- 
crated soul ; all he was, and all he had to bear on 
the advancement and enlargement of the kingdom 
of righteousness here on earth. Like his Master, 
he was among us as one that serveth, and doubt- 
less the plaudit ' well done ' thrills his kingly 
soul to-day." 



Memorial Tributes. 87 

From the Rev. C. a Stoddard, Paris, France. 

The Rev. Dr. C. A. Stoddard writes from 
Paris, March 31: "I was grieved to-day by the 
news of Dr. Crosby's death, and could not keep 
the tears from running down my face, as I walked 
down the Champs Elysee, and thought of my last 
evening with him at Chi Alpha — at Dr. Booth's, 
just two weeks ago last Saturday. His words 
about Christian charity and kindness, apropos of 
Dr. Schaff's paper, were vividly recalled, and his 
genial and manly presence. One of the last notes 
which I wrote before leaving, was one of sincere 
condolence to him upon the death of his beloved 
daughter, and I little thought then that he would 
join her angelic company on Easter Sunday. 
How great a loss his absence from religious, and 
civil, and social life will be, none know better than 
those of us who have felt the power of his con- 
sistent and persistent efforts for truth, justice and 
pure religion. Abreast of all true progress in 
theology, morals and political science, a brave and 
intelligent defender of the Bible and its teachings, 
a fair and courteous opponent, and a warm-hearted 
and generous friend, he will be mourned and re- 
membered by a multitude with sincerest sorrow. 



88 Howard Crosby. 

A TRIBUTE TO DR. HOWARD CROSBY 



THE PRESBYTERIAN MINISTERS' ASSOCIATION 

EXPRESS THEIR SENSE OF LOSS AT 

HIS DEATH. 



The Presbyterian Ministers' Association yester- 
day adopted the following minute in regard to the 
death of Dr. Howard Crosby, which was read by 
the Rev. Dr. Henry J. Van Dyke, of Brooklyn: 

The committee appointed to draft a minute in 
regard to the death of Dr. Crosby respectfully 
submit the following report : 

We are painfully conscious of our inability to 
record in words a true estimate of our departed 
brother, or to convey to others the sense of loss 
which comes to us with the thought that we shall 
see his face no more. He was one of the found- 
ers of this association and contributed more than 
any other man to its prosperity and usefulness. 
His constant presence brought light and sweetness 
to our meetings. His broad scholarship, his 
earnest convictions of truth, his positive utterance 



Memorial Tributes. 89 

of what he believed, and his quick resentment of 
what seemed to him untrue or wrong, were tem- 
pered by humility toward God and a large-hearted 
charity toward men. His sincerity was trans- 
parent. He always thought for himself, said what 
he thought, and did what he said. His reverence 
for the Scriptures as the very Word of God com- 
manded the respect of those who differed with 
him in their interpretation. He was dogmatic 
without bigotry, a controversialist free from bitter- 
ness, a man in understanding, and a child in malice. 
In his large sympathy for the suffering and 
sorrowful he was full of good works and of alms. 
In his devotion to the Church he was an able 
preacher and a faithful pastor. In his zeal for 
good government and social order he was a fore- 
most citizen. With a diligence that never spared 
himself he counted each day by its minutes of 
golden opportunity, and sought to redeem them 
all. The source and centre of his life was his con- 
secration to Christ. His last conflict was his great- 
est triumph. With the hand that was pierced 
clasped in his own, his t childlike faith attested 
the victory that overcometh the world. Servant 
of God, well done ! Though we are distressed 
for him as David was for Jonathan, we rejoice 



90 Howard Crosby. 

that he has entered into glory. Let us resolve to 
cherish the memory of Howard Crosby, and 
under the incentive of his example press on by 
fidelity to every duty to the land of reunion. 



[From the " New York Times" March. 1891.] 

The Late Howard Crosby. 



At a meeting of the Society for the Prevention 
of Crime, held at 923 Broadway, an extended 
minute was adopted on the death of the President 
of the society, Dr. Crosby. Among other things 
the minute said : 

" Our President counted himself a debtor to 
every citizen of New York. This he did because 
he respected every man as his brother committed 
to his care by the common Father. He met his 
death in part as preacher, educator, author, honest 
taxpayer and voter. Still he counted himself 
debtor to aid specially the magistrates in two 
ways : first, encouraging, assisting, and constrain- 
ing them to execute existing laws ; second, in 
securing better laws. 

"We his comrades grieve over his departure as 



Memorial Tributes. 91 

our personal loss. We find a vacant space in our 
society and in the body corporate which cannot be 
filled. * * * His life must inspire every true 
lover of New York to press on to victory this 
good warfare which he began." 

At the meeting of the Reformed, Methodist, 
and Presbyterian Ministers' Association at the 
Collegiate Church yesterday a tender tribute was 
paid to the memory of the Rev. Dr. Crosby. In 
his opening prayer the Rev. Dr. James C. Cham- 
bers referred to the deep affliction that all people 
feel at the death of the eminent clergyman, and 
the Rev. Dr. John Hall followed with a warm 
tribute to Dr. Crosby's memory. 

A committee composed of the Rev. Solon Par- 
sons, the President of the New York Preacher's 
Meeting of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; the 
Rev. W. P. Bruce, President of the Reformed 
Church Pastors' Association of New York, and the 
Rev. Dr. James C. Chambers, President of the 
Presbyterian Ministers' Association was appointed 
to draft memorial resolutions expressing the sense 
of the joint meeting. These resolutions, which 
recited the many endearing and distinguishing 
qualities of Dr. Crosby, were presented and 
unanimously adopted by a rising vote. 



92 Howard Crosby. 

Eulogies of Dr. Crosby were spoken at the 
meeting of the Presbyterian Union at the assembly 
rooms in the Metropolitan Opera House last 
night. Mr. Alexander P. Ketchum, President of 
the union, said : 

" In the midst of our joy, as we look forward to 
the entertainment of the hour, a shadow is upon 
us. The one who has gone was a member of this 
union and our personal friend. And yet were he 
still alive to commune with us, could he speak to 
us from whence he has gone, he would be the last 
to ask a postponement of the pleasure of this 
occasion, the joy of which is so light compared 
with that which he now has. We mourn his loss 
and feel a sense of loneliness. As citizens of this 
metropolis, we have lost one whose place may 
never be supplied. Great and good as he was, his 
name was familiar to the criminal as to the most 
devout, because he was a terror to evil-doers. 
The press of this city reflects the sentiment of the 
Presbyterian Church in its words of love and sor- 
row at his death. It mourns his departure." 

The Rev. F. F. Ellingwood spoke briefly. " It 
was as great for Dr. Crosby to stand before the 
vice and crime of this city," he said, "as for John 
Knox to stand before Queen Mary in behalf of his 



Memorial Tributes. 93 

faith. He was brilliant, fearless; the lion-hearted 
and yet the tender-hearted." 

On behalf of a committee the Rev. Dr. H. M. 
Field submitted a memorial resolution. In doing 
this he said : 

" Howard Crosby is dead. He has gone to his 
grave. No more shall we see among us that 
splendid form, that noble head, or hear that ring- 
ing voice. You knew him well. Everybody 
knew him, and all who knew him loved him. I 
loved him, and I love him still. In the twenty 
years I knew him I never knew him to do aught 
that gave pain. The only thing that gives pain 
is that we shall see him here no more." 

This memorial was then adopted : 

" Resolved, That it is with profoundest grief we 
learn of the death of our beloved brother and 
fellow-member, the Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby. 
The Church has sustained an overwhelming be- 
reavement, and his loss to the city is nothing less 
than a public calamity. A faithful, conscientious 
pastor, and an eloquent preacher, he was also a 
patriotic citizen who never spared time or effort 
for the good of his fellow-men. Although eminent 
as an educator and an accomplished scholar, all 
his utterances were simplicity itself. 



94 Howard Crosby. 

" Ever undaunted in combating evil in its most 
offensive forms, in all the relations of life he was 
gentle as a woman. No man of our time was 
more earnest and courageous in effort to restrain 
the powers of vice in this community. And yet, 
notwithstanding the great burdens he assumed, he 
found time to discharge the duties of his pastorate 
and to the Church at large with punctilious exact- 
ness. The Church throughout the country and 
Christians in every land have cause to mourn. 
We extend to the congregation of which for twetny 
eight years he has been a devoted pastor, and to 
his afflicted family, our sincere love and sympathy/' 



[From the " Christian Intelligencer."] 

HOWARD CROSBY. 



By the Rev. Abbott E. Kittredge, D.D. 



It is hard to think or write of him as dead. 
He seemed so strong and active, he had become 
so closely linked with the highest interests of the 
Church and of the city, he threw himself with such 
enthusiasm into every work for the uplifting of his 



Memorial Tributes. 95 

fellow-men, that we cannot realize that he has 
gone from us, never to return, and that we shall 
see his face no more in the social circle and the 
vineyard service. But so it is, and we can only 
bow in submission to His will who loved our dear 
brother better than we did, and whose wisdom in 
providence is infinite. We would have said that 
he was needed here, that he could not be spared 
from the work in which he was always a leader ; 
but God knows best, and he has already entered 
upon his heavenly service, grander than the high- 
est possibilities of the earthly vineyard. 

It is not easy to analyze his character, for more 
than any one we have ever known, he seemed to 
unite tenderness and sympathy with broad mental 
acquisition and intellectual power, and with these 
a capacity for labor in widely different fields which 
was marvellous. 

As a preacher, his knowledge of the Bible was 
profound, and his sermons were not only always 
evangelical, but full of meat for the spiritual 
nourishment of his people. He was an enemy of 
all sensationalism in the pulpit ; his sermons were 
never written to please or flatter men, but simply 
to honor his Master and to build up His kingdom. 
And God placed the seal of His benediction upon 



96 Howard Crosby, 

his preaching, and a great multitude were led by 
him to the Lamb of God and into the joys of His 
salvation. 

He was a faithful, loving pastor. He did not 
believe in the modern theory that a city minister 
has enough to do in preparing for his pulpit services, 
and so must neglect pastoral visitation ; but he 
found time to call upon his people, to comfort 
them in sorrow, to win the hearts of the children, 
so that he was regarded by all as a true friend and 
a loving counsellor. In multitudes of homes in 
our city it is as if one of the family had gone, and 
parents and children will miss for years to come 
his warm hand-grasp, his always smiling face and 
his kind, encouraging words. 

Outside of his pulpit and pastoral work, he 
found time for intellectual study, for extensive 
reading and writing upon themes philosophical 
and scientific, so that in the literary and religious 
circles with which he was connected, he was pre- 
pared to speak wisely and instructively on every 
subject which was presented. Then, Dr. Crosby 
was a man of broad religious views and sympa- 
thies. He was intensely loyal to the Presbyterian 
Church, was proud of its history, and earnest in 
pushing forward its grand missionary enterprises ; 



Memorial Tributes. 97 

but he was no sectarian bigot. He loved the 
whole Church more than any one section of it ; he 
recognized in every Christian denomination a part 
of the visible body of Christ, and he labored and 
prayed for the closer union of Christians ; never 
losing the confident hope that the day was 
coming when the people of God would be one f 
and denominational flags would be lowered before 
the one Cross standard. 

As a result of this broad, generous, and Christ- 
like spirit and labor, his departure is mourned 
to-day by the clergymen of all Christian sects, and 
all grieve for his loss as that of a brother beloved. 
But this profound thinker and theologian, this 
faithful preacher and pastor, this man of broad 
Christian sympathies, was also a patriotic citizen, 
finding time and strength to give to the interests 
of the City and State. With an energy which 
never flagged, with a fearless resoluteness which 
never weighed his words or acts in the scales of a 
selfish policy, he was the open, bold antagonist of 
political corruption and of wicked rulers, fighting 
with the liquor and gambling interests of New 
York, often single-handed, walking our city streets 
at night to discover law-breakers, watching the de- 
signs of politicians at Albany with a vigilance that 



9S Howard Crosby. 

never slept, and forcing even the respect of wicked 
men by his conscientious, tireless labors and his 
ringing utterances of an heroic patriotism. 

And yet, with all this varied and grand work, 
for which he seemed always to have time, Dr. 
Crosby was a simple, childlike Christian, never 
egotistic, never ambitious for earthly honors, but 
gentle in manner, warm and true as a friend, self- 
forgetful, seeking only the glory of his Lord, and 
walking among his fellow-men as a friend of all ; 
a brother to those who needed his helping hand, 
and with a moral character which by its purity 
and sincerity won the confidence and admiration 
of our entire population. 

The City, the State, will feel his loss. The 
cause of political reform has suffered a heavy blow 
in his death. The Presbyterian Church and the 
whole visible body of Christ mourn the going 
from the vineyard of a leader and loved captain. 
We, who knew him in the intimacy of Christian 
fellowship, feel that earth is poorer, that life has 
less of attractiveness, as we miss him with whom 
we have walked in loving friendship and by whose 
side we have sown and reaped for the Master, and 
under whose leadership we have fought against 
the principalities and powers of sin. We shall 



Memorial Tributes. 99 

miss that warm, hearty greeting, that generous 
hospitality, that delicate sympathy with which he 
entered into the sorrows of others, that joyousness 
of temperament which brightened every circle of 
which he was a member, that sincerity and earnest- 
ness in discussion, which compelled the respect 
even of those who differed from him, and above 
all, that simple but confident faith in his Saviour,, 
which was the sublime secret of the grandeur and 
power of his character and life. 

I said, it is hard to think or write of him as 
dead. Thank God, Howard Crosby is not dead. 
It was only the tabernacle in which he lived for 
sixty-five years that loving hands have laid in the 
silent grave. He has only changed worlds — has 
only dropped the tired body and been clothed up- 
on with his house from heaven. He lives with his 
risen Lord in glory ; on his ears has fallen the 
welcome, " Well done, good and faithful servant." 
and there we shall meet him again, when our work 
here is ended, meet him in that Father's house 
where no one ever goes out, and where our ser- 
vice for the King will never be interrupted. 



ioo Howard Crosby. 

[From the " Christian Inquirer."} 

DEATH OF DR. HOWARD CROSBY. 



By Robert S. MacArthur. 



The death of such a man as Dr. Howard Cros- 
by is a great loss to our city, to our country and 
to the cause of evangelical religion throughout 
the world. In many important respects he had 
not his peer in the country ; nor, perhaps, in the 
world. It is rare, indeed, that a man unites in 
himself so many necessary characteristics of a 
great preacher, reformer and scholar. United to 
these qualities there was a tenderness of heart and 
a gentleness of life, rare in any man, but still 
rarer in a man of so aggressive a spirit and so fear- 
less a nature. 

SOME OF HIS CHARACTERISTICS. 

He was certainly one of the greatest workers of 
our time ; but he never forgot in his busiest hours 
to be a Christian gentleman. In what many 
would call the less important matters of life his 
courtesy was constantly shown. He would not 



Memorial Tributes. 101 

allow a visitor, even though the visit may have 
been a bore to him, to leave his house without 
being courteously shown to the door by himself. 
His marked politeness impressed even the rudest 
of his visitors, of which class he had many. As a 
scholar he took high rank both in America and 
Great Britain. In 1870 he was elected president 
of the University of the City of New York; and 
in 1873 he was chosen moderator of the General 
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and was a 
delegate to that body no fewer than eleven times. 
It is not too much to say that he was the finest 
Greek scholar in the American pulpit. Again and 
again has this writer named a passage of the New 
Testament and has heard Dr. Crosby immediately 
recite it in the original Greek. His published 
works show that he was scholarly also in Semitic 
and kindred languages and literatures. His class- 
ical studies he continued to the close of his life. 
" CEdipus Tyrannus of Sophocles" he edited with 
notes as early as 1851. He loved Plato; he 
constantly read Homer's Iliad, and the Odyssey, 
which he preferred to the Iliad. His volume, 
"Thoughts on the Pentateuch" (1873), "Notes on 
Joshua" (1875), and his " Commentary on Nehe- 
miah " (1876), show his activity along Old Testa- 



102 Howard Crosby. 

ment lines, and his "Notes on the New Testament" 
and other volumes on religious subjects show his 
breadth of thought and effort in many directions. 
He was a member of the American Committee on 
the Revision of the New Testament. 

Dr. Crosby was a tremendous worker, as we 
have already suggested. He became pastor of 
the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church in 
March, 1863, succeeding Dr. Joel Parker. In 
addition to his two sermons on Sunday, he 
taught a Bible-class for young men Sunday morn- 
ing ; he attended a ministers' meeting Monday at 
noon ; conducted the Bible-class for young women 
on Tuesdays ; lectured on the Sunday-school les- 
son on Wednesday evenings ; attended a Greek 
club on Friday evenings, and three clerical associa- 
tions each week, one of which met on Wednesday 
afternoons and one on Saturday evenings. While 
chancellor he attended the University each morn- 
ing. In addition to these engagements he wrote 
constantly for newspapers and magazines. He 
presided at almost innumerable meetings for 
municipal reform, philanthropic endeavors, denomi 
national committees and other forms of relieious 
and humanitarian enterprise. His methodical 
habits and great industry enabled him to perform 



Memorial Tributes. 103 

these enormous and varied labors. He was 
whole-hearted in all that he undertook. Dr. Tay- 
lor said well at the funeral service : " He seemed 
always focalized. Whatever was the subject in 
which he was engaged, he was always tohis in Mo; 
he was nothing by half." He did not neglect his 
pastoral work in the midst of other duties ; to 
callers he gave an hour each day. He was seldom 
absent from any of these engagements, and was 
never late. A man of so many sides and so able 
at every point, so fearless and so tender, we have 
never before known. It has been said of him, 
that finding a robber in his house one day, he 
seized him and dragged him along until he found 
a police officer, to whom he gave him up. He 
then visited him in prison, and talked in so manly 
and Christian a spirit that the man was converted. 
With this man he kept up a correspondence until 
the end of his own life. That man, it is said, is 
now an exemplary member of a Methodist church 
in the West. 

Dr. Crosby was, by nature and long experience, 
a reformer. His boldness in this respect often 
startled more timid brethren. He was a terror to 
evil-doers. Saloon keepers dreaded and at the 
same time admired him. He was a "mailed 



104 Howard Crosby. 

knight;" he dreaded no foe. and he championed 
every o-ood cause. He never was known to riant 

a o 

unfairly. Even his vanquished foes admired the 
chivalry of his methods and the sincerity of his 
purpose. He hated with a perfect hatred even- 
form of cant or sham or hypocrisy. He was him- 
self absolutely sincere in every relation of life. 
His earnestness was as a hre in his bones : he 
never adopted any form of sinuosity or crooked- 
ness in reaching an end. He thought for himself, 
and he dared to utter his thoughts in direct and 
unadorned speech. 

For almost twenty-one years this writer has met 
him fortnightly and frequently weekly in clerical 
circles, where the utmost frankness of speech pre- 
vailed. Aeain and a^ain has his voice ran^ out 
like a trumpet, rebuking wrong and defending 
right. His beautiful face was an index of his pure 
and noble heart : often on that calm and tranquil 
face a lambent glory seemed to rest, as if he had 
just come from some Pisgah of divine communion. 
He sympathized with Baptists in their exaltation 
of the Word of God as the infallible authority in 
all matters of faith and practice. He had no 
sympathy with the "New Theology" tendencies 
of the times ; he stood like a rock for the old faith 



Memorial Tributes. 105 

once delivered to the saints. Again and again 
has he expressed unbounded admiration for 
Baptist loyalty to the Bible. He stood firmly with 
us in our views of the separation of the Church 
from the State, in our insistence on a regenerated 
membership, and in our repudiation of human 
creeds. It would be easy for this writer to give 
many instances of his sympathy with us touching 
all these and other po'.nts. During the recent dis- 
cussion in his own church regarding the " Revision 
of the Standards" he repeatedly and emphatically 
declared himself in sympathy with Baptists in 
their rejection of all human standards and in their 
reverence for the Word of God as the only 
authoritative rule of faith. 

HIS TEMPERANCE VIEWS. 

It must be admitted that his views on temper- 
ance were a stumbling-block to many Christians. 
He was opposed to what he considered the " fa- 
naticism of prohibition by legislative enactment." 
He was recognized as the leader of those who 
would restrict the traffic in every possible way, 
and who believed in high license as an effective 
agent in securing this result. He was opposed to 



106 Howard Crosby. 

spirituous liquors, but maintained that unferment- 
ed wine never existed, except possibly as an 
occasional matter. He believed that Jesus made 
and used real wine ; he therefore thought proper 
to use wine as he believed Jesus did. He "was 
opposed to total abstinence as a rule or law, be- 
lieving that total abstinenee as a system is false 
in its philosophy, contrary to revealed religion, and 
hurtful to the best interests of this country." He 
did heroic service in denouncing that hermeneuti- 
cal figment known as the two-wine theory. Such 
interpretation brings Scripture teaching into dis- 
repute. Even so good a cause as temperance 
ought not to be upheld by unscholarly and unfair 
exposition. Often in familiar conversation, some- 
times in warm debate, this writer differed with 
him both as to the principle and policy involved 
in some of his positions. But no one could ever 
doubt his sincerity of faith, his purity of motive 
and his ability in advocacy of his views. He was 
often assailed by extreme prohibitionists with a 
virulence as amazing as it was unchristian. He 
sometimes received letters from professedly Christ- 
ian men consigning him to the regions of the lost, 
and assuring him, in language that savored more 
of the saloon than the prayer-meeting, that many 



Memorial Tributes. 107 

of his victims would meet him on his arrival. But 
he was immovable under these fierce attacks. He 
probably did more to suppress the liquor traffic 
than all his critics combined. The " Society for 
the Prevention of Crime," which he was the chief 
instrument in founding, did much to purify criminal 
courts, to limit the liquor traffic and to further 
every good cause. It is not too much to say that 
he was the greatest one-man power in the city of 
New York. 

This writer formed, immediately upon coming 
to New York, a warm friendship with Dr. Crosby. 
That friendship grew, on the part of the writer at 
least with the passing years. From this noble 
man he never received anything but manifesta- 
tions of fraternal regard and fatherly affection ; 
and he will ever cherish among his tenderest 
memories all that is connected with this chivalrous 
knight of truth. No words can more appropri- 
ately characterize Dr. Crosby than those written 
by Dr. Philip Schaff, himself a great church his- 
torian of Neander, the " father of modern church 
history," when he says : " A child in spirit, a man 
in intellect, a giant in learning and a saint in 
piety." 



ioS H oz.' a rd Crosby. 



{From the Tohker* Statesman. April 3, 1691.] 

HOWARD CROSBY 



The death of Dr. Crosby is a public calamity. 
He was a valiant warrior on the side of right- 
eousness against iniquity. He was something- 
more than a minister. He did not regard sermon- 
izing and visiting as the only duties laid upon him. 
He had what so few citizens have, public spirit. 
He recognized the fact that he was a member of 
the Commonwealth, and that he owed a duty to it 
which was not to be shirked. He was a bold and 
defiant opponent of the mighty saloon interest. 
In the tight against that interest he was a puissant 
personality. There was nothing mealy-mouthed 
about him. He did not think it necessary to play 
the sycophant, to flatter the powerful, to secure 
the favor of people he despised, by soft speeches. 

Dr. Crosby was of more value to the commu- 
nity than dozens of commonplace, conventional 
men who. though outwardly respectable, never take 
thought for the public welfare, and are principally 
concerned with the degrading business of accumu- 
lating dollars. Thousands of men dislike the 
liquor traffic and would like to see it curtailed, if 
not suppressed. But they are too petty, too self- 



Memorial Tribittes* 109 

ish, too much engrossed with personal matters, 
too cowardly to do anything in the way of mitiga- 
ting the evils of the injurious business. 

Dr. Crosby was made of sterner and better stuff. 
He had an ancestry to be proud of — solid and 
worthy men of the old American stock. He took 
a personal interest in the affairs of New York. 
He wanted to see the city well governed. And he 
was willing to make personal sacrifice, if so be 
that object might be attained. That he was bit- 
terly opposed it is hardly necessary to say. One 
of the reform measures attributed to Dr. Crosby 
passed the Legislature, but naturally received Ex- 
ecutive disapproval. There was the spectacle of a 
private citizen working for the public good, thwart- 
ed and defeated by a politician in the Governor's 
chair, a man elected to represent and to protect 
the people. Sad was it to reflect that such a man 
as D. B. Hill could be in a position successfully to 
oppose Dr. Crosby in his efforts in behalf of the 
public. 

Dr. Crosby did not have a Fifth Avenue church. 
His salary was not as large as that of several New 
York ministers ; but he was a far more significant 
and important figure in the community than these 
latter. 



iio Howard Crosby. 

He was a rare and admirable man. The city 
that he cared for and worked for should appropri- 
ately honor his memory. Four-fifths of the 
population of New York, it is said, are of foreign 
birth and of foreign parentage. Here was a 
representative of the old American families striv- 
ing to abate the mischief which these foreigners, 
allied with worthless natives, had wrought. 

And he was a notable scholar, especially fond of 
Greek, at one time a professor of that language. 
Take him altogether he was a man and a citizen 
of the best sort, one of the very few who confer 
distinction upon the big-dollar-worshipping city, a 
man worthy of long and honorable remembrance, 
as one who served the people well and was faithful 
to the end. 



[From the "New York Observer.'"] 

TWO NOTICES 



By Rev. Wendell Prime. 



March is the unspeakable month in the sense in 
which Europeans say " the unspeakable Turk." 
How biting and bitter its breath as we stood this 






Memorial Tributes. 1 1 1 



afternoon at the door of the Fourth Avenue 
Presbyterian Church, and looked upon the coffin 
as it was carried in, containing all that was mortal 
of Howard Crosby, indefatigable and fearless in 
New York as was John Knox in Edinburgh. He 
is taken away at a crisis when his faith, courage, 
learning and power are sorely needed. 



Once a year " Philo " meets with the Presby- 
terian pastor at Inwood. The parsonage is 
between the Hudson River and the Kingsbridge 
Road, not far from the northern end of Manhattan 
Island. Its surroundings are still delightfully 
rural, including grove, garden and orchard, now 
luxuriant and fragrant with the beauty and breath 
of spring. It is arranged that we shall meet here 
annually during the time of apple-blossoms. So 
uncertain is the weather at this season, that in 
some years on the day appointed we have been 
disappointed in our outdoor enjoyments. But 
this day has been perfection. After a mid-day 
dinner, abundant and appetizing, the brethren 
adjourned to the adjoining orchard, where the 
afternoon hours fled swiftly on the wings of con- 



1 1 2 Ho ward Crosby r . 

versation and croquet. The apple-blossoms fell 
beneath the touch of the orentlest breeze, silent 
and stainless as snow-flakes. In such an atmo- 
sphere and hour we could not forget the sweet 
fields beyond the swelling flood, and our friend 
Howard Crosby, one of our most beloved mem- 
bers, whose great heart was for many years an 
overflowing fountain of refreshment in such scenes 
as this. 



FROM DR. EATON, UNIVERSALIS! 1 , 



" A max of commanding abilities," said Dr. 
Eaton, "of a church not much in sympathy with 
ours has passed away. We felt that we lost a 
personal friend when the great Howard Crosby 
died. In thinking of him I realized how narrow 
was the conception of the doctrine of a mechanical 
apostolic succession, and my mind revolted at 
a theory that such a man was not ordained of 
God." 



Memorial Tributes. 1 1 3 

An Appreciative Tribute. 



PAID BY DR. HEBER NEWTON TO THE MEMORY 
OF DR. HOWARD CROSBY. 



As an illustration of the true Christian life, the 
Rev. R. Heber Newton, at All Souls' Church 
yesterday, paid the following tribute to the 
memory of Dr. Howard Crosby : 

" In Howard Crosby one could see how the 
Christian is the highest style of man. A faithful 
pastor over his large and vigorous congregation, 
he was, at the same time, a scholar who never 
neglected the intellectual life, and a citizen who 
labored as though he had no other task in reform- 
ing and purifying our civic life. Intense in his 
convictions he was tolerant of the convictions of 
others, outstripping his great faith by the sweet- 
ness of his charity. Bold as a lion, fearing no 
embattled forces of evil, holding the lawless ele- 
ments of our city in a restraint which no other 
man in private life or official station has impressed 
upon them, he was gentle as a woman. 

" Eminently a man of the Spirit, devout, godly, 
as all felt who came close to him, he made his 



1 1 4 Howai'd Crosby. 

religion the most potent and practical of forces 
for civic righteousness and social purity, so that, 
when he leaves us, we all stand ashamed in our 
lack of public spirit, wondering what the city is to 
do without him. 

" This manliest of men, this most faithful of 
citizens, was indeed the sincerest and simplest of 
Christians. When he realized that he was pass- 
ing away, he called for pencil and paper and wrote 
the farewell messages which he could not speak. 
The story of his life and death he told in a word : 
* I place my hand in the hand of Jesus.' ' 



Dr. Crosby as a Citizen 



At a meeting of the members of the Society for 
the Prevention of Crime, held at their rooms No. 
923 Broadway, yesterday, a minute respecting the 
death of their president was unanimously adopted. 
Part of it was : 

" Our . president, the Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby, 
counted himself a debtor to every citizen of New 
York. This he did because he respected every 



Memorial Tributes. 1 1 5 

man as his brother, committed to his care by the 
common Father. He met his debt in part as. 
preacher, educator, author, honest tax-payer and 
voter. Still he counted himself debtor to aid 
specially the magistrates in two ways — first, en- 
couraging, assisting and constraining them to 
execute existing laws ; second, in securing better 
laws. For this reason he led in organizing the 
Society for the Prevention of Crime, of which he 
has been president since its organization, March 
16, 1877. He informed himself to a unique 
degree concerning the machinery of the govern- 
ment of our city. He was thoroughly at home 
in knowledge of the laws to be executed. He 
acquainted himself with the officers of the law, in 
the police, in the excise, in the courts and in the 
Mayorality. He did much to create a standard of 
faithfulness in office. The ideal magistrate has 
been kept before New Yorkers by his efforts. He 
personally pursued the violators of the law in 
numberless cases. He was a terror to evil-doers. 
He was ubiquitous in his survey of events around 
him. He continually surprised his directors by 
his knowledge of every kind respecting our work. 
He stimulated us by his toils, patrolling some- 
times by night to detect unfaithful officers or 



1 1 6 Howard Crosby. 

flagrant criminals. He led us in giving his means. 
He was always prompt, never weary. He harmo- 
nized differing elements. He forgot himself and 
made others forget themselves for the cause." 



Prom Rev. Peter Stryker 



* * * * I learn that my inti- 

mate and beloved friend, Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby,, 
has passed away. On Easter Sabbath he left us. 
He did not die. He only crossed the river to live 
forever in glory. I have known him and been 
associated with him since we were college boys. 
I had many reasons for loving him. Shall I now 
mourn him as lost ? O no, he has only gone be- 
fore. I shall see him again in glory, and it may 
be soon. No black for him, but white. He is 
clothed in white. He was a bright and cheery 
Christian, and in peace and triumph has closed his 
eyes to all that is mortal, to gaze forever on im- 
mortality. No mourning for him. 



Memorial Tributes. 1 1 7 

A TRIBUTE FROM REV. DR. PARKHURST, 

OF THE 

MADISON SQUARE CHURCH. 



DR. CROSBY AND THE LIQUOR QUESTION, 



When Paul lived there was a good deal of dis- 
cussion in regard to the question whether it was 
right for a Christian to eat meat that had been 
offered to idols. Paul says, " Yes, an idol isn't 
anything." To a man, able as he was, to survey 
the matter with an eye that looked straight for- 
ward of him, and that had in it no confusion, this 
eating of meat that had been so offered was not 
an ethical question. There was no ingredient of 
right or wrong inhering in it. At the same time, 
if his eating such meat was going to hurt any- 
body's feelings and bruise anyone's conscience, he 
would abstain from it as long as the world stood, 
but he wasn't going to give up saying it was right 
to eat it. In that respect he was just exactly like 
good Dr. Crosby on the liquor question. It 
would have occasioned Dr. Crosby just as much 
pain to know that he had broken the edge of any 



1 1 8 Howard Crosby. 

man's conscience by drinking wine as it would 
have St. Paul to know that he had done the same 
thing by eating meat offered in sacrifice. But 
that would not hinder the Doctor the thousandth 
part of a second from saying and insisting upon it 
that it was right for him to do it ; that wine-drink- 
ing was not an ethical question, in this sense, that 
the act involved no inherent wrong. 

The two men were considerably alike in a 
number of respects ; the purposes of both were so 
intense that the threads of their thinking never 
curled and kinked ; primary questions they settled 
first, and then took care to get the bottom 
masonry well in before they scattered off on to the 
matter of girders, studs and lathing ; and while 
St. Paul did a great deal more to crush idolatry 
than the scrupulous Corinthians, who had not the 
courage to say nor the wit to know that there was 
no inherent wrong in eating sacrificed meat, we 
also remark as a partial analogue to that, that there 
is probably no temperance worker in this city that 
has accomplished so much as Dr. Crosby in the 
way of restraining the very evil that he has been so 
many times mistakenly charged with encouraging. 
There is no clear appreciation yet of what his 
death in this one particular is going to cost us. 



Memorial Tributes. 



119 



Other men can be found that are as scholarly as 
he ; that can preach the Law and the Gospel with 
as much acceptance and effect as he ; and that will 
guard as vigilantly as he against the intrusion into 
the Church of what seemed to him corruption in 
practice and unsoundness in doctrine. But there 
is no man known that can take the place of How- 
ard Crosby as the alert, uncompromising and 
indomitable antagonist of the rum-power of New 
York City. There was no jumble made in his 
mind any more than in St. Paul's by mixing 
abstract propriety with concrete expediency, and 
distinct thinking makes confident acting. 

" All things are lawful for me." As though he 
had said, " All these matters, which are neither 
right nor wrong intrinsically, but which A, B and 
C worry over in ways that are so petty and 
scrupulous, all these rights are right, are squarely 
in the face of all this slavish, quibbling scrupulos- 
ity. I am going to stand up and frankly insist that 
they are right." " But." Now we are ready to 
move on and interrogate the clause that these in- 
itial words open into. His bottom masonry is all 
in. The broad preliminary question is settled, and 
is not going to be reopened. A given act may be 
right, and yet be inexpedient; but the inexpedi- 



1 20 Howard Crosby. 

encv of it is not oroino- to turn around and make 
the act itself wron^. For instance witnessing the 
spectacular may not be inherently wrong, but at- 
tendance upon spectacular exhibits may be inex- 
pedient : but if they were wrong before they were 
inexpedient, the inexpediency is not going to 
make them wrong, however wrong it may make 
me if I act regardless of the inexpediency. 



SIXTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT 



OF THE 



Grace Chapel Helping Hand, 

Ncs. 340 and 342 East 22nd Street. 

For the Year ending March, 1891. 



* * * * And aeain. within a few 
short days,, a great bereavement has fallen heavily 
upon us in the loss of our pastor, greatly beloved, 
the Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby. Under peculiarly 
trying circumstances he has suddenly been taken 
from us in the height of his intellectual power, and 



Memorial Tributes. i 2 1 

from the activities of a life of rare usefulness and 
honor. 

During a long pastorate in the Fourth Avenue 
Church, he has by his inspiring words, and the 
beautiful example of his life, encouraged his 
people in " every good word and work ;" and as a 
member of the Advisory Board of this Society 
from its foundation, he has been ever ready to 
help us by his genial presence and warm sympathy. 

To those of us who have long been privileged 
to listen to his teachings in the church he loved 
so well, the inspiration of the noble life just closed 
will remain in our hearts as a lasting memory, and 
an incentive to more earnest devotion to the cause 
of that Divine Master whom he so faithfully 
served. 

Miss J. A. BROWN, Secretary, 

April 4, 1891. 25 West 45th Street. 



A/r the City University. 



Vice Chancellor Henry M. McCracken, of the 
University of the City of New York, preached the 



122 Howard Crosby, 

baccalaureate sermon for 1891 in the University 
Place Presbyterian Church last evening. 

In closing Dr. McCracken spoke feelingly of 
Dr. Howard Crosby, whose strength, he said, was 
of that order necessary for a front place. He 
possessed among his attributes marvellously strong 
impulses, including sympathy with and compassion 
for humanity, a deep reverence for God's law and 
a will of great force in behalf of the loftiest 
impulse whenever he recognized a conflict. 



[From the " Hebrew- Christian," May, 1891.] 

In Memoriam. 



By Rev. J. W. Freshman. 



REV. HOWARD CROSBY, D.D., LL.D. 



With feelings of unusual sadness we record the 
passing away from earth to Heaven of that hon- 
ored servant of God, the Rev. Dr. Howard 
Crosby, one of our Board of Trustees, and Chair- 
man of the Advisory Committee. 



Memorial Tributes. 123 

When nine years ago we came to New York, 
strangers and alone, Dr. Crosby was among the 
first to take us by the hand and bid us God-speed. 
He has ever been a stanch friend and a wise 
counsellor to our Hebrew-Christian work. He 
rejoiced greatly over its progress. Amid his 
many duties he ever found time for an interview 
concerning its interests. God grant his mantle 
may fall upon others. 

The annual meeting of the Board of Trustees 
will be held early in May, when they will doubt- 
less pass appropriate resolutions. 

A special meeting of the Advisory Committee 
was, however, called on April 2d, at which time 
the following Minute, prepared by the Rev. Dr. 
Deems, was directed to be placed on the Records 
and a copy to be forwarded to the family of our 
deceased venerated friend, and published in the 
Hebrew-Christian : 

" In December, 1881, at 429 West 22d Street, 
in this city, three men met to consider prayerfully 
the advisability of inaugurating a Hebrew-Christ- 
ian work in New York. One of these men was the 
late Dr. Howard Crosby. His zeal, his high char- 
acter, his great reputation, the catholicity of his 
superb spirit, naturally fitted him to be a leader in 



124 Hoivard Crosby. 

this as in all other good works. All of his associ- 
ates have felt that he was their leader in giving 
substance, shape and stability to this enterprise. 
He was always ready with tongue, pen and purse 
to advance its movements. He gave freely of his 
valuable time to its interests. In this as in every- 
thing else he touched, he was deeply endeared to 
all his associates. 

" On Easter Sunday he passed from amoug us. 
The vacancy his departure has created would give 
us intolerable pain if we did not believe that the 
Master for whom he labored, and to whom this 
particular Work belongs, would raise up some 
other well-endowed servant to take our beloved 
brother's place. 

"We desire to put in the minutes of our pro- 
ceedings a record of our great admiration and 
abiding love for that knightly gentleman, that 
faithful citizen, that ripe scholar, that godly man, 
that devout Christian, our honored brother, the 
true and the now sainted Howard Crosby." 



Memorial Tributes. i 25 

AT GENERAL ASSEMBLY, MAY. 1891. 



Each one of the three reports referred with 
sorrow to the death of Dr. Howard Crosby, 
of New York, Dr. Moore speaking of his ''un- 
wavering faith, broad charity, love of unity and 
courage of conviction." Dr. Lowrie said that 
the praise of Dr. Crosby and Dr. Welch was in all 
the Church, and the mourning for them had been 
universal. Dr. Mcintosh referred to " the irre- 
parable loss in the death of their beloved friend 
and most efficient associate, Dr. Crosby. 



Bible Society Record 



REV. HOWARD CROSBY, D.D., LL.D. 



The Managers have sustained a severe loss in 
the death of the Rev. Howard Crosby, D.D., 
LL.D., who was a member of the Committee on 
Versions since the year 1880, and was remarkable 
for his punctual attendance upon the meetings of 
the committee, his wise counsels, and his deep in- 



126 Howard Crosby. 

terest in all matters which have come before it. 
His associates of the Committee on Versions have 
recorded their views concerning him in these 
words: "His familiarity with the original lan- 
guages of Scripture and with many modern tongues, 
his varied experience, his frankness and courtesy, 
and, above all, his deep and pervading sympathy 
with the letter and spirit of the Divine Word, 
rendered him a very valuable member of the Com- 
mittee, and we shall long regret the event which 
deprives us of his companionship and aid." 



Tribute from W. E. Dodge. 



Dr. Crosby was introduced by Mr. Dodge as 
the first citizen in New York in pluck and cour- 
age, one who is constantly going for everything 
that is wrong and the one above all others whom 
wrong-doers fear. Dr. Crosby read from manu- 
script, and was interrupted again and again by 
applause from delegate visitors as he showed, in 
terse and vigorous terms, the opportunity that 
America offered for the development of Christian 



Memorial Tributes. 



2/ 



life. This very opportunity brings increased re- 
sponsibilities to the Christian citizen. He lamen- 
ted the general apathy on the part of Christians 
in regard to public life. The true missionary spirit 
must be shown in urging and supporting Christian 
legislation. The Christian must not be a parti- 
san. 



[From the "New York Tribune.""] 

The General Assembly 

AT 

FOURTH AVENUE CHURCH, 1 890. 



If it were possible to increase the regard which 
Dr. Howard Crosby enjoys in the Presbyterian 
Church, his hospitality and labors during the recent 
Assembly would have done this. His watchful 
care as Chairman of the Committee of Appoint- 
ments, his uniform courtesy as pastor of the 
Church, and the host of the Assembly, his ability 
and wisdom in discharging the duties of a Com- 
missioner, simply confirmed his position in the 
hearts of the great body of the Presbyterian 
Church. 



128 Howard Crosby, 

Chancellor Crosby, 1871. 



We accept the election of Dr. Howard Crosby 
as Chancellor of the University of the City of 
New York as an indication of greater vigor and 
efficiency in the management of this institution. 
Dr. Crosby is a scholar of rare attainments, who is 
yet fully abreast with the times and earnest in his 
sympathy with all sensible educational reforms. 
Few men are as catholic in their tastes and sympa- 
thies, few are so free from prejudices, and fewer 
still are imbued with the same measure of gener- 
ous self-devotion to all movements for the eleva- 
tion of their fellows. He will bring to the leader- 
ship of the University a new and powerful impetus 
in the right direction, and will inspire the friends 
of the institution with fresh hope and activity. 

That there is opportunity for the fullest exercise 
of all the energies of the new Chancellor those 
who know most of the condition and affairs of the 
University will be the readiest to admit. We shall 
soon know what measures he will propose in the 
way of reform, progress and growth, and shall be 
glad to sustain him in all of his efforts to put the 
University on a better and larger footing. 






Memorial Tributes. 129 

Dr. Crosby's Punctuality. 



The Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby is very punctual 
in his engagements. During the eleven years of 
his Chancellorship of the University of the City of 
New York he was never late at chapel. Every af- 
ternoon from 5 to 6 o'clock he gives to callers 
from his congregation, or those having business 
with him, and often there are a dozen or more vis- 
itors at the same time. He seldom dines away 
from home, unless at public dinners where he is 
called to represent a society or the University. 



Some Reminiscences of Dr, Howard Crosby, 1877, 



IN SCOTLAND. 



A PAPER READ IN SIGMA CHI, APRIL 15, 1891, 
BY HENRY J. VAN DYKE, D.D.* 



The personal friendship between Dr. Crosby and 
myself began at the Reunion Assembly of the 

*Mr Van Dyke died in May of the same year, (1891. ) 



130 Howard Crosby. 

Presbyterian Church at Philadelphia, in 1870. He 
had been prominent as a member of the New 
School body, and was at once recognized as a 
leader in the reunited church. He never seemed 
to me, however, to be either a New or an Old 
School man. He was sui generis. 

This was perhaps owing in part to the fact that 
he studied theology privately, and was never a stu- 
dent in any Theological Seminary ; but it was due 
still more to the original cast of his mind. He 
adopted the Westminster Confession of Faith, not 
with mental reservations, of which he was consti- 
tutionally incapable, but with openly expressed dis- 
sent from some of its statements. The points in 
regard to which he dissented are not generally re- 
garded as essential to the integrity of the system 
taught in the Confession, and it would not be easv 
to determine whether his divergence, upon the 
whole, brought him more into alliance with the 
New School or the Old School. He was by nat- 
ure a Protestant and a Dissenter. Traditionalism 
and the authority of schools were nothing to him. 
And yet he was kept from eccentricity and radical- 
ism in theology by his absolute reverence for the 
inspiration, authority and inerrancy of the Word 
of God, in regard to which he went beyond the 



Memorial Tributes. 1 3 1 

statements of the Confession of Faith. While 
there was nothing in the proceedings and discus- 
sions of the Assembly of 1870 to indicate that there 
ever had been or ever could be any theological 
difference among its members, the spirit of re- 
union which put every one on his good behavior 
did not suppress the personal traits of Dr. Crosby. 
Courtesy and good humor were natural to him. So 
also was the unconscious independence which every- 
where and always made him think for himself, 
say what he thought and do what he said. When- 
ever he spoke his looks drew audience, and his 
ringing voice, his " blood earnestness," his clean- 
cut, explicit words made a deep impression. Aside 
altogether from the opinions he uttered, the man 
won me, and we were ever afterward personal 
friends. His last letter to me a little while before 
his death, concludes with the words : " I love you 
dearly." We were both members of the Assem- 
bly at Baltimore in 1873. There he was made 
Moderator, and presided with a rare combination 
of promptness, authority, impartiality and cour- 
tesy which won universal admiration. In 1877 we 
were among the American delegates to the First 
Presbyterian Council at Edinburgh. I was accom- 
panied by my wife and my two sons ; he was alone; 



132 Howard Crosby. 

and after the adjournment of the Council, he ac- 
cepted with the jocundity of a boy let out of 
school our unanimous and urgent invitation to be- 
come one of our family party for a two months' 
tour in Scotland. Those two months, in spite of 
Scotch mist, are all red letter days. There is not 
a cloud upon one of them. And the unfading sun- 
light in which they stand out in our memory, 
shines chiefly from the face of dear Dr. Crosby. 
Traveling together is a test of character even more 
severe than living together in the same house. Its 
friction rubs off the tinsel of outward manners, and 
reveals that underlying selfishness which is the 
bane of all good fellowship. This traveling fiend 
came and found nothing in Dr. Crosby. He could 
eat the poorest dinner, and sleep in the hardest 
bed and ride in the toughest seat, and insist that 
they were all very good, with a rollicking fun that 
gurgled most when it ran over stones, and made 
every one else ashamed to complain. Though he 
was four years my junior, he was the leader of our 
party whenever there was any need for leadership, 
and that not only by our unanimous insistence, but 
because his gray hairs and noble presence drew to 
him from strangers the honors of seniority. An 
amusing instance occurred in the hotel at Thurso, 



Memorial Tributes. 133 

where, as we entered the dining room, the head 
waiter surveyed us both attentively, and then whis- 
pered to me, " I will ask the old gentleman to take 
the head of the table." Of that joke he never 
heard the last. I cannot give the details of our 
tour, nor record the conversation of our honored 
companion, in which we stirred him up " from 
grave to gay, from lively to severe." The irrepres- 
sible puns, the learned nonsense, and the soberer 
sentiments that revealed his childlike piety, and 
showed that he was not one to whom 

The primrose by the river's brim 
A yellow primrose is to him, 
And it is nothing more ; 

the impression of all these remains, but their form 
and coloring have vanished with the days that 
will never return. Can any one bottle the flashes 
of the Northern lights, which so often fill the in- 
terval between the late sunset and the early sunrise 
of those Northern climes ? Could any one box up 
for future use the smell of the blooming heather 
that filled all the air on that day when we rode 
along the banks of the Dee, from Aberdeen to 
Balmoral ? 



134 Howard Crosby. 

We spent a week at Inverness, the whole five of 
us taken prisoners, and detained by loving com- 
pulsion in the elegant and hospitable home of 
Elder Morrison. What a jolly good week that 
was ; and how clearly it showed that family wor- 
ship and grace at meat are not inconsistent with 
the flashes of merriment that set the table in a 
roar. Dr. Crosby had many a crack with our kind 
'host,' who was himself a man of very decided opin- 
ions. But if any suspicion of unsoundness was 
created in the Elder's mind, I am sure it was at 
once removed by the Doctor's address at the re- 
ligious convention we came to Inverness to attend, 
•and by his preaching on the Sabbath. And I am no 
less sure, the cloud which has received him out of 
our sight has cast its shadow on that distant Scot- 
tish home. Leaving the two young men with their 
mother at Loch Maree, where there is magnificent 
scenery and good trout fishing, Dr. Crosby and I 
started North for a fortnight's tour in the Orkney 
and Shetland Islands. As our train passed through 
the estates and by the chief castle of the Duke of 
Sutherland, we were engaged in some grave the- 
ological debate which was suddenly interrupted by 
this question from my opponent : " If the penitent 
thief should come to Scotland to live, where would 



Memorial Tributes. 135 

he settle?" Not being quick at conundrums, I, 
promptly gave it up. "Why at Dunrobbin Castle, 
of course," said the Doctor, laughing all over, and 
then immediately resumed the grave discussion. 
From Thurso, the jumping off place, near John 
O'Groat's house, where the " old gentleman" was 
asked to take the head of the table ; across the 
swift channel of Pentland Firth, to the Isle of 
Hoy, whose brown stone cliffs rising more than a 
thousand feet sheer up from the sea are cut into a 
thousand fantastic shapes, and inhabited by a hun- 
dred thousand sea birds ; and then across another 
narrow sea to Stromness, on the western shore of 
the mainland of the Orkneys ; was a delightful sail, 
on what we were told was an exceptionally bright 
and quiet day. From Stromness across the island 
to Kirkwall, with its grand old cathedral dating 
back to the Norman Conquest, was a delightful ride 
in a low back car. From Kirkwall, past Fair Is- 
land to Shetland, was another delightful voyage, 
in spite of wind and tide. The recital may be bald 
and dumb as a time-table to others, but to me it is 
full of visions and voices. Like Cowper's village 
bells, it " opens all the cells where memory slept." 
Remembered, but not recollected ; vivid to the 
mind, yet not tractable to the pen ; vanishing when 



6 



6 Howard Crosby. 



grasped, but leaving a deep and pleasant impres- 
sion behind them, there are a hundred shadowy- 
scenes filled with the face and form, the voice and 
the laughter, the sense and the nonsense of the 
dear " old gentleman" who has gone before me 
into a far country, to take the head of the table. 
Never can I forget reclining on the deck, beneath 
a cloudless sky, half sick with the tossing of the 
steamer on a chopping sea, reading Scott's story of 
" The Pirate," (which, though a fiction, is an ex- 
cellent guide book among these islands) while Dr. 
Crosby, with his legs straddled wide to preserve 
his centre of gravity, and his old brown straw hat 
pulled down over his eyebrows, in defiance of the 
wind, paced up and down, now poking fun at me 
for looking so white livered, then bringing me a 
little something for my stomach's sake, or tucking 
in my blanket with the tenderness of a woman, all 
the while talking at intervals about the book in my 
hand as though he had read it yesterday ; identi- 
fying the headlands mentioned in the story ; dis- 
cussing the character of Magnus Troil and Cap- 
tain Cleveland ; insisting that Noma of the Fitful 
Head, who sold the winds to the sailors, was a real 
person ; promising that if I would brace up he 
would show me Minna and Brenda when we got to 



Memorial Tributes. 137 

Shetland, and seriously challenging me to continue 
the voyage to Iceland. As the vessel rounded 
into the exquisite little harbor of Lerwick, the lin- 
gering radiance of the sunset had faded ; but when 
we went up from supper to our chamber in the 
quaint old tavern, and had made merry over the 
Yankee clock on the mantel, we were attracted by 
a light to the window, and there, across the beauti- 
ful bay, was the glow of the rising sun lighting us 
to bed. 

A ride across Shetland in a rickety old gig, be- 
hind a knock-kneed and short-winded horse, af- 
forded the Doctor endless subjects for observation. 
And at a ruined castle on the Western shore he 
recognized Minna and Brenda in two tall and 
comely young women, who kept a place of refresh- 
ment, and sold us two elegantly knitted woolen 
lace shawls for our wives. 

On our journey back to Loch Maree we reached 
Dingwall on Saturday night, after the last 
train had left. And so, though near to the rest 
of our party, we settled down for a quiet Sabbath 
in this centre of Presbyterian orthodoxy. The 
next morning when asked what church that was 
opposite to the hotel, the landlord looked aston- 
ished and said, " Dinna ye ken Pope Kennedy's 



138 Howard Crosby. 

Kirk?" Learning that the morning service in 
both the Presbyterian churches of the town was in 
Gaelic, we took a quiet walk to the hills where we 
had much good talk and a boy's luncheon on raw 
turnips, and were careful to return just at the time 
when the crowd was coming out of the churches, 
so as not to be suspected of breaking the Sabbath. 

On reaching the hotel, Pope Kennedy himself 
was waiting" for us. The result of the interview 
was that I addressed the Sunday School and Dr. 
Crosby preached at the afternoon service. Early 
Monday morning, as we took our seats in the rail- 
way carriage, who should appear but the dear old 
Pope, with his rosy old wife, one bearing a basket 
of strawberries and the other an enormous bunch 
of flowers. The gifts were presented to both of us 
but they were evidently intended for Dr. Crosby. 
The givers are both dead, some years ago, and 
now I trust that my traveling companion has met 
them in the better country, and feel sure that in 
that case they have inquired after me. 

What a warm welcome we received at Kinloch- 
kewe ! What a glorious drive we had along the 
shores of Loch Maree, and on to Gairloch on the 
cliffs of the Western Shore ! What a magnificent 
sail across the Minch in the face of the red sunset 



Memorial Tributes. 139 

to Stornaway in Lewes, the largest of the He- 
brides ! Here Dr. Crosby carried on the same 
''excellent fooling" by which he had read Scott's 
history of " The Pirate" between the shore lines of 
the Shetland!; only in the Hebrides, Black's tale 
of the Princess of Thule was the fountain of his- 
tory. He and the other two boys identified every 
locality, made themselves familiar with the lingo 
of the people as illustrated in that book, and 
crowned the whole conceit by discovering the very 
young woman who sat for Mr. Black, when he drew 
the portrait of the ; Princess. There was no fool- 
ing, however, and no fond conceit in the preaching 
we did on the Sabbath, in the Free Established 
and United Presbyterian Churches of the town ; 
nor in the high debate on the sinfulness of singing 
hymns, in which Dr. Crosby laid out the old elder, 
who being 

Convinced against his will 
Was of the same opinion still. 

The voyage to Glasgow among the Western 
Isles must be passed over. 

After this Scotch journey I vacated with Dr. 
Crosby several times among his favorite haunts in 
the Catskills. One summer we boarded for two 



140 Howard Crosby. 

months in the same house. A simpler man in his 
habits, a cleanlier man in his person and conver- 
sation, a pleasanter man to live with I never 
knew. He was no sportsman, and did not seem 
to know the difference between a fly-rod and a 
bean-pole. He never went a-fishing. But what a 
dabster at croquet, and what a tramp he was ! 
He never beheld the top of a mountain without 
wanting to scale it, nor looked at a new road 
without wishing to explore it, nor saw a place 
where there was no road without desiring to make 
one. Whatever was true of him metaphorically, 
he did not literally walk in the old paths. 

One memorable tramp I took with him, was 
about twenty miles from Phenicia, to the top of 
a mountain, and down again to the foot, where 
we were to spend the night at the house of his 
friend, Lo Ammi Brown, whose peculiarly Scrip- 
tural, name always amused him. We reached the 
summit weary and worn and hot. Upon starting 
to return, Dr. Crosby insisted upon making a 
short cut down, and the rest of the party refusing 
to agree to what they denounced as a heresy, 
he and his loyal elder made their new departure. 
But alas ! they were soon lost and wandering like 
sheep upon the mountains. When the rescuing 



Memorial Tributes. 141 

party brought them to our lodging, the twilight 
threw a vail of charity over the garments of the 
Doctor, who was obliged to go to bed that good 
Mrs. Brown might repair his breeches for an early 
start in the morning. 

None laughed louder than himself at the fun 
caused by this mishap. He enjoyed knowing 
and talking with all sorts of men. The com- 
mon people heard him gladly. His downright- 
ness in speech, and his facility in explaining 
Scripture, made him a very effective preacher to 
an unlearned audience. 

My recollections of Dr. Crosby in connection 
with this Association are vivid and precious. 
I think you will agree with me, that he was the 
very man for President of a Society made up of 
all denominations of Christians, where all kinds 
of questions are handled without gloves, and 
yet with the utmost courtesy and kindness. He 
illustrated in his own person that Christian unity 
which subordinates minor differences to the faith 
in Christ, that binds us to Him and to each other. 
There is scarcely one of us against whom he has 
not tilted with his free lance. And yet we all 
love him. One day when he was on his high 
horse a good Methodist brother who sat next 



142 Howard Crosby. 

to me, whispered, "What delicious dogmatism that 
is." Alas ! that we shall hear no more of that 
dogmatism made delicious by its transparent hon- 
esty and its brotherly love ! 

And yet who would call him back from his 
crown ? How beautifully characteristic was his 
death. He struggled manfully for life, and when 
the battle went against him, how trustfully he 
put his hand into the hand of Jesus to be led 
home like a little child. 

In him were realized the prophetic wishes of 
the greatest living poet : 

" Sunset and evening star, 

And one clear call for me ; 
And may there be no moaning of the bar, 

When I put out to sea ; 

" But such a tide as moving seems asleep, 

Too full for noise or foam ; 
When that which comes from out the boundless deep, 

Turns again home. 

" Twilight and evening bell, 

And after that the dark ; 
And may there be no sadness of farewell, 

When I embark ; 



Memorial Tributes. 143 

" For though from out our bourne of time and place, 

The flood may bear me far ; 
I hope to meet my pilot face to face, 

When I have crossed the bar." 



A TRIBUTE FROM A DAILY PAPER. 

{Year unknown.) 



DR. HOWARD CROSBY. 



Dr. Howard Crosby was born in New York in 
1826, and was one of ten children of William B. 
Crosby, a wealthy citizen famed for his probity 
and sterling character. It is a fact worth noticing, 
that all this large family and their descendants 
have become members of the church, and active in 
Christian service of all kinds. The subject of this 
sketch entered the University of the City of New 
York and graduated with honor. He was appoint- 
ed Professor of Greek at the New York University, 
and for a long time held the same position in Rut- 
gers College, New Brunswick. He also occupied 
several years in European travel, and spent a long 
period in the Holy Land, with which, and the ad- 



144 Howard Crosby. 

jacent countries, he has a rare acquaintance. 
Having decided to enter the ministry, he accept- 
ed a call from the First Presbyterian Church in 
New Brunswick, N. J., and afterwards came to 
New York and took charge of the Fourth Avenue 
Presbyterian Church, which position he still re- 
tains. 

As a Greek scholar he has few equals in this 
country both for knowledge of the language and 
facility in communicating it to others. He has 
always taken a deep interest in linguistic studies, 
and is an accepted authority in such matters. He 
attended the convention of Philologists held at 
Poughkeepsie last Summer, and took an active 
share in their proceedings. In addition to this 
special knowledge, he possesses a large fund of 
general information, and a broad and liberal cult- 
ure. 

Dr. Crosby's sermons are noticeable for their 
terse and concise language, and for their popular 
mode of expression and absence of theological lan- 
guage. He seldom preaches on doctrinal themes, 
and in such cases directs them to all abstract and 
technical features and presents them in a live and 
forcible manner. He knows how to popularize 
dogmatic truths, and while his discourses satisfy the 



Memorial Tributes. 145 

intellect, and are illustrated and adorned by the 
results of wide reading, they are so simple and 
direct in their mode of presentation that they can 
be understood by everyone, and his hearers are 
certain to be strongly influenced by them. Sev- 
eral of his sermons have been published, of which 
one, entitled the " Looking-glass," reproving the 
follies of worldly society, and a series of three, 
called "Hints to Young Christians," intended for 
the young, are best known. 

As a Scriptural expositor, Dr. Crosby is very 
successful, and his weekly lectures on Job, Daniel 
and Revelations have been both instructive and 
interesting. He is a good Biblical scholar, and, 
like Prof. Hitchcock, has the faculty of striking 
expressions and of stimulating his hearers to ex- 
amine for themselves. 

He is very social in his disposition, and is con- 
sequently very popular among all the persons with 
whom he is brought in contact. He has a large 
circle of friends outside his congregation, particu- 
larly among artists, literary and professional men 
generally, and he has none of the social exclusive- 
ness of some of his cloth. As a public speaker be- 
fore the general public, particularly the masses, he 
is much liked, and he is often invited to speak on 



146 Howard Crosby. 

special occasions. His personal liberality deserves 
mention, and is one of his most striking character- 
istics. 

Dr. Crosby possesses unusual administrative 
ability, and his church is distinguished for the 
business-like way in which it is managed. His 
elders are worthy, young and enterprising men, 
and under his leadership they have accomplished 
much valuable service. Dr. Crosby fully carries 
out Spurgeon's great principle that every good 
Christian must share in the work of evangeliza- 
tion, and he tries to induce all of his congregation 
to co-operate with him in his plans of usefulness. 
He is an officer of the City Mission and one of its 
most zealous and efficient supporters, while in 
Mission Sunday-school work he has been an active 
co-operator with Ralph Wells, who is a prominent 
member of his church. All schemes of philan- 
thropic or other reform receive his sympathy and 
find in him a willing co-operator. 

Dr. Crosby is nothing of an old fogy, but is up 
with the age in every respect. On some points, 
indeed, his views have been considered too ad- 
vanced, and have subjected him to some criticism, 
as, for example, on the subject of the Westminster 
Catechism, and he has also been considered to 



Memorial Tributes. 147 

have taken too liberal a stand on the temperance 
question. His merits, however, are undeniable, 
and may be summed up as follows : capacity for 
practical preaching and for practical work. On 
these foundations he has built up his church, and 
from it he is daily extending the circle of his 
influence. 



The Christian Preacher 
I88O. 



The idea developed by Phillips Brooks, in his 
cumulative and repetitious way, as his single 
contribution to the "Yale Lectures," was that 
the essence of preaching was not in the " sacred 
desk," the sermon nor the 'delivery," but in the 
personality of the man himself ; and that therefore 
the institution of preaching, as distinct from print- 
ing, and as distinct also from prayer and praise, 
could never be superseded in a living church and 
a dying world. 

It is equally true that the point and power 
of " Lectures on preaching" will reside more in 
the lecturer's own characteristics and career than 



1 4S Howard Crosby. 

in the counsels, however wise and practical, which 
he may impart. It has therefore shown great 
wisdom on the part of the executors of the Sage 
Fund, to have selected a series of men like 
Beecher. Brooks. Hall. Taylor. Dale, Simpson 
and Crosby to appear before the students in train- 
ing for the work in life of which they are such 
eminent examples. The mere magnetic presence, 
and the opportunity of studying such men. and of 
seeing how with equal power, yet widely varied 
gifts, they exemplified their subject as well as the 
emphasis and illustration of their own experience, 
added to what might otherwise seem common- 
place — is in itself a liberal education in " homiletics 
and pastoral theology." 

We shall not undertake now to revert to the 
lectures of former years, but take advantage of 
the volume which lies before us. published in 
Randolph's elegant style, which contains the full 
and authentic report of the present year's course, 
as furnished to the public by the lecturer himself.* 
And in this case, too, we will speak of the lecturer 
himself as illustrating his subject, leaving the 
lectures to speak for themselves by giving, from 

* The Christian Pieacher. (Vale Lectures for iSj^-ScO By Howard 
Crosby. New Vork : A. D F. Randolph & Co. 



Memorial Tributes. 149 

time to time, such condensed and characteristic 
extracts as we may be able. 

Howard Crosby, though a stanch opponent of 
scientific evolution, is himself, as a "Christian 
preacher," a clear instance of spiritual selection 
and survival of the fittest. Born of an old Dutch 
stock, amid the substantial and quiet elegance 
of the East Side, he inherited tastes and means 
which would naturally have inclined him to a life 
of learned leisure. And accordingly we find him, 
after a brilliant undergraduate career, setting off 
upon a tour of travel and study in Europe. He 
returns with a prestige of scholarship, and the 
object of " great expectations " on the part of 
many, in case he should not succumb to the lotos 
of sweet learning. We remember about this time 
standing upon the steps of the New York Univer- 
sity talking about its affairs and its future, when our 
companion pointed to a gentleman who was walk- 
ing leisurely past, and made the remark, " That 
man is destined to be the Chancellor, if he will 
take it." Always loyal to his Alma Mater, he did 
take the Greek Professorship in that institution, 
made illustrious by the long occupancy of Tayler 
Lewis ; and when a threatening pulmonary weak- 
ness drove him from the city, he took the 



150 Hozvard Crosby. 

Greek professorship at Rutgers College. Into 
these educational labors, combined with continual 
activity in other literary and scientific under- 
takings, he threw himself with patient and enthusi- 
astic industry, and achieved a speedy distinction 
as one of our foremost scholars and educators. 
His career seemed to be clearly defined and 
assured. 

But all this while there lay underneath the en- 
thusiasm of the classical student and the savant a 
deeper delight in the law of the Lord, and in that 
law did he meditate day and night. And, while he 
meditated, the fire burned — the Hame of a conse- 
crated desire to impart the sweetness and light of 
that Word to his fellow-men. And, accordingly, 
we find him from the first, and more and more, 
going out into the by-ways and highways as a lay- 
preacher. It mattered little to him, whether it 
were a Fourth Ward Mission, a country school 
house, or a metropolitan pulpit. It was the 
wisdom of God, though " to the Greeks foolish- 
ness." And it became the power of God in his 
hands unto salvation. The seats of Learning 
recognized the wisdom, by giving him, a layman, 
the doctorate of divinity. The churches recog- 
nized the power by calling him to their pastorate. 



Memorial Tributes. 1 5 r 

And by and by he was constrained to accept the 
pastoral care of the First Presbyterian Church of 
New Brunswick, in connection with his professor- 
ship, and to be ordained to the official work of the 
ministry. And after a time, his health being re- 
stored, and the Fourth Avenue Church of New 
York selecting him with an unerring instinct as 
the man to build up their dilapidated fortunes, he 
came back to his native city, to be henceforth one 
of its great presences and powers, and to accept 
his destiny as Chancellor of its University. 

We think this career offers the materials for a 
most profitable study. It illustrates the God- 
made preacher as distinct from the self-made, or 
even the Board-made or the Seminary-made. It 
illustrates the "woe is me" impulse, which God 
imparts by His Spirit, and before which circum- 
stances and self must give way. It illustrates the 
selection of grace, which is going on silently in 
our lives and in the world's life, whereby the sons 
of God are being differentiated not only from the 
children of this world but from one another. 

The preacher for our age will be the outcome of 
two Divine forces, the Holy Ghost and the Provi- 
dence of God. The latter will not manifest itself 
by a mere natural set of the tide of circumstance, or 



152 Howard Crosby. 

by the pressure of other wills. He will neither drift 
nor be driven into the ministry. As of the new 
Birth itself, it is " not by blood" — it is not enough 
to belong to a clerical family ; nor "by the will of 
the flesh " — mere natural inclination, or the ab- 
sence of disinclination ; nor "by the will of man" 
— admiring or ambitious or sentimentally-pious 
friends may add another " professional " to the 
pulpit, but not " a teacher come from God." The 
question ought to have come up as a question 
with two sides. The providence should be a hand- 
writing, recognized and read as the Divine finger, 
and not simply felt, as a blind yielding to a hand- 
push. All the better if one has tried other paths 
in life, only to find them mysteriously emerging 
into this. The list is a long and illustrious one, 
of those who, like Dr. Crosby, have been drafted 
of God out of other professions and occupations. 



[From " The Christian at Work.' 1 ''] 

DR. HOWARD CROSBY 



The many friends of Dr. Howard Crosby 
among our readers will be glad to read, as we are 
glad to print, the simple and beautiful tribute to 



Memorial Tributes. 153 

his memory, which appears in another part of our 
paper this week. President Dwight writes us that 
ever since the death of Dr. Crosby he has felt im- 
pelled to note down some thoughts and reminis- 
cences connected with his own friendship for and 
his personal association with him, and suggests 
that it may possibly be considered late for such an 
article. We think the present especially timely for 
a quiet perusal of such a truthful and simple state- 
ment as is here given, and notwithstanding the 
implied lack of some especial " power of descrip- 
tion," which President Dwight thinks he would 
like that he does not possess, it would be difficult, 
we think, to convey in the same number of words 
a more truthful, worthy or delightful tribute to the 
memory of a good man than he has here given. 
President Dwight had, as he has shown, peculiar 
opportunities to study the man. Indeed his fre- 
quent meetings and discussions at the work of 
Bible Revision, when at short intervals, extending 
over a period of several years, they "sat side by 
side at the end of the table in Room 42 of the 
Bible House," furnished a most favorable oppor- 
tunity for a just estimate of each other's character. 
We need no assurance to believe that those 
were pleasant days when they thus "used to meet 



154 Howard Crosby. 

together to study the words of the Apostles and 
of the Lord himself." We are not surprised to 
learn that what was at first merely a " kindly senti- 
ment " soon became cemented into firm friendship 
between these men. The Revised Version of the 
Bible seems more precious to us for the knowledge 
that such men participated in it. The serene end- 
ing of Dr. Crosby's work here, with his hand 
"sweetly resting in the Master's," seems a fitting 
close to such a life. If it be true that in the glo- 
rious mansions above 

Many friendships in the days of time begun, 
Are lasting there and growing still, 

who will venture to say that the friendship of 
these two good men shall not yet be renewed amid 
even more favoring- circumstances than around the 
Revision table, and where, in company with the 
Apostles themselves, whose words they so faith- 
fully studied together, they may delight to see all 
their former differences of opinion fully explained 
and harmonized in the clearer liorht of Heaven 
around the table of the Great Master himself? 



Memorial Tributes. 1 5 5 

THE LATE DR. HOWARD CROSBY. 



By Timothy Dwight, D.D., LL.D , President of 

Yale University. 



Dr. Howard Crosby, whose death a few 
months ago was so great a grief to his many 
friends, was a man of such striking individuality 
and of such marked character, that he will be long 
remembered by all who knew him. As a tribute 
to his memory — of slight value perchance, yet of 
the worth which friendship always gives — I would 
ask the privilege of saying a few words in the 
columns of The Christian at Work, which may 
bear witness of my regard for him, and may tell 
something of my personal recollection of the man 
and his work. My first introduction to his ac- 
quaintance was quite accidental. It was nearly 
thirty years ago, on a Sunday when I happened to 
be preaching in New York, and when he, almost 
alone among the city pastors, was still at his post 
of service in the late days of the Summer. He 
met me at his brother's house, and we had an hour 
or two of pleasant conversation. I saw in him, at 



156 Howard Crosby. 

the first moment, the clearness and brightness of 
intellect, the kindness and courtesy of manner, 
the genial warm-heartedness, and the seriousness 
which were so conspicuous when I came to know 
him better in subsequent years. From that time 
onward I had the pleasure of counting him among 
my friendly acquaintances, though our meetings 
were few. Our paths did not often cross each 
other, yet I know that a kindly sentiment was ever 
ready to grow stronger, if we might come into 
nearer relations at some later season. 

The later season arrived when the work of 
" Bible Revision," as it is called, began, the result 
of which was the publication of the Revised Ver- 
sion of the New and Old Testament Scriptures in 
1 88 1 and 1885. Dr. Crosby and myself entered 
the company of revisers at the same time, just at 
the beginning of the active work of revision. We 
were both members of the Xew Testament section 
of the Committee of Revision, and we sat side by 
side — he at one end of the long table in Room 42 
of the Bible House, and I next at his left hand — 
at all the monthly meetings, which continued for 
nearly nine years. I had thus the most favorable 
opportunity of seeing and knowing him, both as a 
scholar and as a man. If a power of description 



Memorial Tributes. 157 

were possessed by me, such as I could desire, I 
might tell a most pleasing story of what we did and 
said — a story which would present an attractive 
picture of him in many lights. But even though 
the story cannot be told, the testimony which is the 
result of what it would recount, may be given, and 
I give it most gladly. The impression which he 
made upon me was the same, I am sure, as that 
made upon the rest of his associates. 

Those meetings were memorable ones. We 
represented all the leading denominations of Chris- 
tians of the Protestant order, and were all men 
of honest and earnest convictions, after our own 
manner of thinking. Yet there was as beautiful a 
Christian unity among us as I have ever seen real- 
ized anywhere in the world. We recognized our 
work which had been assigned to us, to be that of 
translators of the New Testament writings, not 
that of commentators or theologians — and espe- 
cially not that of controversialists in the work of 
commenting or of theology. We held firmly to 
our own opinions, and stated them with the rea- 
sons on which they were founded. But we trusted 
each other with the most friendly confidence ; and 
where we could not agree, we lovingly agreed to 
disagree. 



158 Howard Crosby. 

Dr. Crosby was a man of as strong convictions 
as any one of the whole number. He held his 
beliefs as precisely, as firmly, as unquestionably as 
a man could hold them. He saw not only clearly, 
but with the utmost distinctness, what he saw. 
He pronounced his conclusions as positively and 
emphatically as if no doubt respecting their abso- 
lute truthfulness had ever entered his own mind, 
or could enter any other well-balanced mind. 
There were for him no opinions in solution. 
There were no fears or doubtings as to whether 
he should give utterance to what he thought. 
This was characteristic of him in all his manhood. 
He believed, and therefore he spoke. He instinct- 
ively turned away from the thought of a half-way 
speaking because there was only a half-way believ- 
ing. And yet there was no arrogance, and no 
bitterness, and no violence of opposition in his 
feeling, and no angry passion in his differences 
from others. He was a courteous gentleman after 
every description, and was as ready peacefully to 
be left in a minority, even in a minority of one, as 
any man whom I have known, He was good 
tempered — immovably so — in all the discussions of 
those nine years, and I think he must have been 
as truly so outside of those familiar and friendly 



Memorial Tributes. 159 

meetings as he was when attending them. I 
have heard that he said, not long before his death, 
to a gentleman with whom he had had what 
seemed to the public a sharp controversy. " You 
will find that there is no bitterness of feeling in 
me." I believe that he said this from the most 
complete knowledge of himself. His oppositions 
were those of the mind — of its judgments and 
convictions. He had no oppositions of heart to- 
ward good men, though their thoughts and his 
might be widely apart. I have many times, since 
the ending of those years of our frequent meet- 
ings, thought of Dr. Washburn and Dr. Crosby 
and myself — the three who used to sit at our end 
of the table— in relation to the differences of our 
early education, and our religious training, and 
our modes of thinking, and our mental attitude, 
and have rejoiced that I knew so long and so well 
men of such culture and scholarly attainments as 
those two friends were, who could keep their 
harmony in their differences so kindly as they did. 
The lesson of Christian courtesy and gentleness, 
as seen in such men, is a lesson worth having. 

Dr. Crosby had the qualities of a leader, as all 
who knew him are well aware. Indeed, his posi- 
tiveness, and his willingness to yield when the 



160 Howard Crosby. 

decision was against him, combined to give him 
power in leading others. He was a master of 
assemblies beyond any other man of his own 
Church, perchance within the more recent years. 
He could not, of course, be such a master in our 
meetings, for we were not in any proper sense an 
" assembly," and there was no sphere for mastery. 
But we could see the qualities which marked him 
out for such a work, as we sat with him and heard 
him speak. He had a certain peculiar kind of 
courage, which adapted him peculiarly for "as- 
semblies." 

As a scholar he was quick of apprehension. He 
possessed great power of working and of rapid 
working. He abounded in enthusiasm. He had 
read, again and again, the writings of the classical 
Greek authors. He had noticed carefully all 
matters of words and construction usage, and was 
ready with all that he knew at a moment's call. 
To some of us he seemed fanciful at times, in his 
interpretations, but he always defended them with 
vigorous arguments and with strong confidence. 
He never resented the intimation that his opinion 
was wrong. He smiled his most genial and kind- 
ly smile when all the rest of the company voted 
against him. 



Memorial Tributes. 161 

He had a wonderful appreciation of words, their 
meanings and likenesses, and a wonderful power 
of playfully using them. His humor, as connected 
with this gift, was unbounded. His mind delight- 
ed in its own joyous exercise, and as he delighted 
himself by his happy workings, he also gave pleas- 
ure to all who were associated with him. 

As an earnest and honest Christian believer, 
firm in his devotion to the good cause, he com- 
mended himself to good men everywhere. In our 
company he manifested his faith and devotion as 
he reverently studied the Scriptures and gave 
them, as he studied, their true influence over his 
life. He knew whom he believed. He calmly 
trusted the Divine Friend and Father, and moved 
on his way among us, as he did among all men 
about him, with unwavering courage and ever 
victorious hope. 

We knew him as an affectionate friend. He 
was most warmly attached to those whom he loved. 
He loved them in a generous, large-minded way. 
The strong affection which bound him to his 
daughter, who died only a few days before him, 
was recognized by all as the most beautiful mani- 
festation of a kindly, generous, loving nature, 
which could and did abound in good-will toward 



1 62 Howard Crosby. 

every true friend. The sundering of the tie which 
had so closely united him to this daughter for 
many years was a grief which, we cannot doubt, 
hastened his own death. He heard the call that 
seemed to come to him from her as she passed into 
the other life — the call to follow her to the new 
scenes, even as he had rejoiced with her in the old 
scenes — and he went away, even as she had gone. 

The ending — as we heard the story of it — was as 
calm and courageous as the faith of the life had 
been. There were kind messages and words of 
peace for others, but no fears for himself. The 
appointed work was finished, and the disciple was 
ready for the Masters service elsewhere. 

Those were pleasant days when we used to 
meet together to study the words of the Apostles 
and of the Lord himself. In the happy remem- 
brance of them I give myself the pleasure of 
writing these few commemorative sentences, and I 
trust that they may seem to others worthy of the 
kindly thought which they may give to them. 

New Haven, Conn. 



Memorial Tributes. 163 



ANNUAL STATEMENT 

OF THE 

Ladies' Auxiliary Society 

OF THE 

Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church, Nov,, 1891. 



In the shadow of a great sorrow we begin our 
work for another year — but hoping and believing 
that our common loss will bind us closer together 
in work and interest ; and inspire us with new zeal 
in the cause so near and dear to the hearts of " all 
them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." 

If he, who was so lately an inspiration to us, 
could speak to us to-day, we know well what his 
words would be. He would urge upon us, as he 
did at our November meeting tw T o years ago, the 
necessity of " united work," the necessity of 
"steady, continuous work," and he would again 
charge us " not to hesitate because we feel doubt- 
ful about results ; we are to do the work and God 
will take care of the results." He would repeat 
what he said to us at our Fall meeting, just one 
year ago this month: "You have a right to be 
grateful for what you have been enabled to do in 



164 Howard Crosby. 

the past. You exercise an influence that extends 
not only over this land, but to the antipodes. You 
may feel that an influence goes out from this room 
to the ends of the earth. The work in our Home 
field is not only mission work, it is patriotic work ; 
and there is nothing of more importance. We 
live in the midst of the forces of evil combined 
against the Church, and if we do not avail our- 
selves of every opportunity to oppose and counter- 
act them, a judgment will come, not only upon the 
country, but upon us individually. In this work 
we must all practice self-denial. Many persons 
have wrong ideas about this ; they think that self- 
denial means self-torture. But the command is to 
deny ourselves and follow Christ, which is the 
greatest happiness in the world. Self-denial is 
simply laying aside the trivial advantages of to-day 
for the great and eternal advantage of the com- 
panionship of Christ. What God means by self- 
denial is for us to drop everything that does not 
help to bring us nearer to Him. In this work for 
missions you must not let yourselves be discour- 
aged because of difficulties ; nor on the other hand 
become listless because of success. You must 
remember that you are not only sustaining the 
work, but also, by reflex action, sustaining the 



Memorial Tributes. 165 

Church to which this Society is an honor and 
strength. You cannot engage in this work with- 
out bringing down upon yourselves a double bless- 
ing in the development of your Christian character, 
and the reward that comes to the faithful worker. 
And it is right to think of the reward. While 
you are not to make it your first object, you are to 
use it as a stimulus and encouragement ; as part 
of the process by which your capabilities are en- 
larged." 

The work is still before us — in Japan, where the 
account of Miss Smith's labors read like an apos- 
tolic record; and in our own West, where heathen- 
ism, Mormonism and Romanism combine to shut 
out the Gospel light. The need is great; the 
workers are few ; the time is short. Shall we not 
all do our utmost — as a thank-offering to our Lord 
for His special mercies to us individually; and in 
loving memory of the friend and teacher who has 
been called to " go up higher ? " 

Mrs. E. N. Crosby, President. 

Mrs. G. E. Sterry, ) Tr . n ., 

_ n I Vice-Presidents. 

Mrs. R. C. Morse, j 

Mrs. N. Amerman, Recording Secretary. 

Mrs. W. P. Prentice, Secretary Foreign Board. 

Mrs. W. Edwards, Secretary Home Board. 

Mrs. G. H. Dunhan, Treasurer, 

19 West 81st Street. 



1 66 Howard Crosby. 

Delta Phi Fraternity, 

GAMMA CHAPTER. 



Whereas, in the mysterious workings of our 
all wise Father, our beloved brother, Howard 
Crosby, has been removed from our midst, there- 
fore be it 

Resolved, That the Gamma Chapter and the 
Delta Phi Fraternity have sustained a severe 
loss, and 

That we drape our pins for sixty days as a 
feeble token of honor for him who was the first to 
join the ranks of the Gamma Chapter of the Delta 
Phi, and 

That we here record an expression of our sin- 
cerest sympathies to the family of our beloved 
Brother, and of our admiration of the ability and 
power of him whom we loved. 

That copies of these resolutions be sent to the 
bereaved family of our departed Brother, and to 
the associate chapters of the Delta Phi. 

That these resolutions be printed in the next 

issue of the University Quarterly. 

fC. Alanson Palmer, 
For Gamma Chapter. <( Albert E. Ackerman, 
(^Thomas F. Adriance. 



Memorial Tributes. 167 

[From the " Church at Rome and Abroad," May, 1891.] 

HOWARD CROSBY. 



Howard Crosby is a name to which its appro- 
priate academic titles add no lustre. In the city 
in which this lamented man spent his life — the 
city of his ancestry for several generations, no 
other name is better known or more generally 
honored. To the lovers of good order, of clean 
streets and homes, of quiet Sabbaths and honest 
municipal government, it was a tower of strength. 
To the panders to vice, the mercenary dealers in 
politics, the corruptors of youth, the defilers of 
home, it was a terror. These honored it with 
their hatred as much as the virtuous by their 
praise. 

The Church in which he was a minister had no 
other more influential in her councils. As Moder- 
ator of her General Assembly in 1873, an d fre- 
quently called temporarily to the chair by his 
successors, he was conspicuous for the dignity and 
courtesy with which he presided, and for the 
decision, precision and energy with which he 
pressed forward the Assembly's business. 



t6S Howard Crosby. 

He was also the first elected Moderator of the 
Synod of New York, in which at that time, before 
it became a delegated body, a larger number of 
ministers and elders were entitled to seats than in 
any General Assembly. 

In debate no voice was more resonant or more 
influential, no speaker more positive, more ener- 
getic or more courageous. His opinions were 
always convictions. Whatever he thought worth 
holding at all he held tenaciously, and was ready 
to contend for it earnestly, without partiality and 
without hypocrisy, without fear or favor, " with 
malice toward none and with charity for all." 

Honest, truth-loving, chivalrous, those whose 
convictions compelled them to antagonize him 
could love and honor him nevertheless. We say 
this from experience, and say it in utmost sincerity. 

True yoke-fellow in many an earnest endeavor, 
comrade and ally in many a strenuous conflict, 
vigorous and resolute opponent in some, always 
frank, generous and manly, always a true, brave 
soldier of Christ : 

" Green be the turf above thee, 

Friend of my early days ; 
To know thee is to love thee, 

To name thee is to praise." 



Memorial Tributes. 169 

Dr. Crosby was a member of the General As- 
sembly's Committee by whom this magazine was 
established, and under whose supervision it has 
continued until now. He has been a constant and 
thorough reader of it, a wise counsellor and faith- 
ful critic, an appreciative, sympathetic, true friend. 
His last writing for the press was his article on 
Higher Education in New York, in our April 
issue. 



i jo Howard Crosby. 



CHAPTER III 

INCIDENTS. 



NOTES FROM A CHAPEL STUDY. 



THE CATSKILL MOUNTAINS AND HOWARD CROSBY. 



To the lover of natural beauty the ride from 
Saratoga to Kingston, N. Y., presents a series of 
most pleasing pictures. At the start you see on 
the western horizon, to your right, the bold out- 
lines of the Southern Adirondacks. To your left, 
on the northeastern horizon, arise the most grace- 
ful outlines of the Green Mountains. As you 
move along through green fields and thrifty ham- 
lets you obtain distant glimpses of the Hudson 
River to the east, until at last it becomes your trav- 
elling companion while you thread your way 
through the prosperous cities of Cohoes and Al- 
bany, and in sight of quiet Lansingburg and the 
roiling city of Troy. After leaving the purlieus of 
Albany the train brings you forth into a fair place. 



Incidents. i 7 1 

The river presents new aspects, and when that is 
lost to view the Catskill Mountains arrest your at- 
tention, and call forth exclamations of pleasure. 
And from the moment you first see them until an 
hour afterward, when you reach your destination, 
they present a rapid succession of transformation- 
scenes, due to the rapid changes in the angle of 
vision ; beginning with three peaks in the south, 
continuing with the flanks and gorges, and still 
higher peaks to the west. You see the old 
" Mountain House," white and sightly among the 
dark green ; and then higher up on the very sum- 
mit, against the blue of the sky, the new Kauters- 
kill Hotel emerges into view. Intervening hills 
or woods suddenly shut off the mountains, and 
now that you are at liberty to turn toward the left 
you realize you have been missing some beautiful 
pictures presented by the growing river. 

But the ever pleasing ride to Kingston is only 
preparatory to the ride from Kingston to Summit, 
or Grand Hotel Station, on the Ulster & Dela- 
ware Railroad. From the time you start on this 
forty mile ride you begin to ascend. At first the 
mountains are in the distance, but gradually they 
close in about your pathway. But despite their 
encroachments, the locomotive finds a way up 



172 Howard Crosby. 

the narrowing valley, alongside of a music-making 
mountain brook, until a barrier is encountered in 
the form of Rose Mountain, which the railway sur- 
mounts by climbing up its side. When you started 
you were on a level with the river, but when you 
reach Summit Station you are in the " heart of the 
Catskills," and two thousand feet above the sea. 
If you go farther on, you will be taken to Griffin's 
Corners, Roxbury, Arkville, Stamford, Hobart 
and other favorite resorts among the mountains. 
But let us alight at Summit Station, for this is 
most convenient to our boarding place in the 
neighborhood of Pine Hill. 

The mention of Pine Hill recalls the name of 
Howard Crosby; for here during many years was 
his summer home. There is not a road in this 
vicinity he hasn't travelled ; there is not a moun- 
tain he hasn't climbed. Every place, from the lit- 
tle village church to the mountain tops, is fragrant 
with his memory. Pine Hill has many attractions, 
but the chief one has gone. And during the past 
week, as I have been looking about upon familiar 
objects, my heart has cried out : 

"O for the touch of a vanished hand, 
And the sound of a voice that is still." 



Incidents. 1 73 

When we sojourned here two summers ago the 
Crosby family were together, enjoying their pretty 
and hospitable country home. Upon a certain 
evening all the visiting ministers and their wives 
were invited to this Birch Creek cottage, with its 
far-famed crystal spring, to tea. At one end of 
the table, presiding with queenly grace, was his 
daughter Agnes, a vision of beauty, a model ol 
household efficiency, a fit companion for the most 
cultivated of Christian gentlemen ; at the other 
end was the happy Howard Crosby, the prince of 
entertainers, the man who possessed the grace of 
adaptation in the superlative degree. Since that 
memorable night, Agnes has been married, be- 
come a mother, and then called suddenly away to 
her heavenly home, soon after followed, as is well 
known, by her honored and widely lamented father. 
What changes have occurred within two years, and 
changes that are irreparable ! Coming back to 
Pine Hill I realized them more keenly than ever 
before. 

Ever since his decease I have intended to write 
for the Presbyterian a slight tribute to the memory 
of Howard Crosby ; and now that I am at leisure 
in the place where so many objects remind me of 
him, the opportunity for doing so is at hand. 



174 Howard Crosby. 

Many can write oi him. after years of acquain- 
tance and friendship or long association in literary 
and ecclesiastical work, or as appreciative parish- 
ioners who have grown up under his excellent 
ministry. But I write simply as a comparatively 
recent acquaintance, and as one of several com- 
panions in four or rive pedestrian tours : as a 
ofuest at his table two or three times, and as one 
of his numerous admirers. I never learned what 
Howard Crosby thought of me. but I know I 
loved him. and my friendship grew with my asso- 
ciation. 

Two or three summers ago we took a tramp 
together from Prattsville to Windham. East Wind- 
ham and Hunter. Having this most companion- 
able of men to myself. I utilized the opportunity 
to ask him all manner of questions, from the 
political and religious issues of the hour to his 
own private habits and views of men. It is super- 
fluous to say that he proved to be an encyclopedia 
of information, not excelled by the Encyclopedia 
Brirtanica. Ninth Edition! In fact. I deemed him 
more reliable as an authority than that famous 
publication, and as much more entertaining as are 
the living voice and personal presence than the 
printed page. 



Incidents. 1 75 

We stopped at Windham for our dinner, and 
after registering our names the hotel proprietor 
came to me privately with the inquiry " whether 
the older gentleman was the celebrated Dr. How- 
ard Crosby, of New York — the man who had so 
much to do with the question of high licence?" 
I informed him his guest was the very man. 
He went on to say he kept a temperance house, 
that he sold no liquors, that he didn't believe 
in Dr. Crosby because he felt that he was doing 
much harm ; and he proposed to ask the Doctor 
some searching questions before leaving the vil- 
lage, one of which was, " How he, a minister of 
the Gospel, could defend moderate drinking while 
he, a hotel-keeper, was an advocate of prohi- 
bition?" 

I awaited the onset with interest. After dinner 
the hotel-keeper saw his opportunity and, with 
less tact than vigor, began to catechise Howard 
Crosby. The Doctor after a hot morning walk, 
was tired, and courted a period of rest ; and this 
was about the thousandth time he had been hauled 
over the coals on account of his temperance views. 
But he met his antagonist with the greatest 
suavity, and patiently and luminously answered all 
his questions. The hotel-keeper held the popular 



i 76 Howard Crosby. 

view of Dr. Crosby's position, and the popular 
view misrepresented him. When the examination 
was over "mine host" came to me again and said 
in substance. " Dr. Crosby is not as bad a man as 
I had supposed ; I have hitherto misunderstood 
his views ; he is as good a Christian man as can 
be found anywhere : I never met with such a per- 
fect gentleman : and what delightful company he 
is ! I love him." 

Here was a complete victory. If Howard 
Crosby had been a smaller man he would have 
shaken his interrogator off with a few monosvlla- 
bles. or short and freezing answers. Or if he had 
possessed only the outward polish of a gentle- 
man, without the inward grace, he would have 
denounced this man for his impertinence and igno- 
rance. But the consideration with which he han- 
dled his questioner, his patience and transparent 
truth were almost divine. The Doctor did not 
know that I was a witness | for I overheard the 
colloquy from an adjoining room): it was a private 
incident, but a crucial test : and from that hour I 
placed him on a higher pedestal of admiration and 
affection. 

At that time the Rev. Mr. Parsons was pastor 
of the Windham church ; soon after he went to 



Incidents. i 7 7 

Tacoma or Seattle, Washington, where he has 
established a church. He called upon Dr. Crosby 
and showed him his pretty village church. After 
this interview the Doctor and I started for East 
Windham, at whose hotel, overlooking forty or 
fifty miles of the Hudson River valley, we put up 
for the night. As soon as it was noised about that 
Howard Crosby was a guest the people began to 
gather around him, the prominent guests, the 
stage-drivers and stable-boys alike, and some 
sought his acquaintance and gave him a hearty 
shake of the hand. The next morning we started 
for Hunter village, ten or twelve miles distant ; 
the Doctor as fresh and gay as a morning lark ; I 
so sore that I could scarcely put one foot before 
the other. Within two miles of the village I was 
compelled to give up and avail myself of a passing 
vehicle, while the Doctor scorned such assistance 
and inarched bravely on. After dinner he declared 
he was ready to walk to Pine Hill (fifteen or 
twenty miles distant) ; but I could not entertain 
such a proposition, so we took the cars. 

Twice I ascended with him Panther Mountain, 
one of the highest of the Catskill ranges ; upon 
one occasion we walked over from Pine Hill and 
remained at " Dutcher's " all night, ascending the 



i yS Howard Crosby. 

mountain the next morning, and after dinner walk- 
ing back to our village ; upon the next occasion 
we rode over, ascended the mountain, coming back 
to Dutcher's for a late dinner, after which we were 
assembled in the parlor while the good Doctor ad- 
ministered the sacrament of baptism to a little babe 
bearing the name of Howard Crosby Dutcher ! 

Two summers ago, a party of us, with Dr. Cros- 
by in the lead, took another tramp, and in order to 
reach our destination resolved to try a new road 
through the woods, of which we had heard ; and in 
trying it we lost our way, and for two or three 
hours plunged around helplessly in the untrodden 
forest, through swamps and over rocks and fallen 
trees. A humorous account of this was sent by 
an enterprising and strongly imaginative reporter 
to the New York Herald, and afterwards went the 
rounds of the newspapers. It is a long lane that 
has no turning. After a while we reached the top 
of the hill and an open field where we could take 
our bearings, and find our way to village, to hotel 
and dinner, and afterwards over picturesque roads 
and through "path beautiful" to our summer 
homes. Two facts connected with our experience 
of being 'Tost in the woods" I shall never forget : 
the first was, a most beautiful waterfall upon which 



Incidents. 1 79 

we stumbled in the depths of the forest. The 
water was cold as ice, the moss which covered the 
rocks most delicate and luxuriant ! And the 
other was the unfailing cheerfulness of Howard 
Crosby. The rest of us were vexed and discour- 
aged, but he made us laugh in spite of ourselves 
by his irrepressible humor, outrageous puns, far- 
fetched conundrums, and imitation of the calls of 
various animals. 

In all these trips, and under all circumstances, he 
proved to be the right man in the right place, a 
many-sided companion, and a most considerate 
and courageous leader. 

Another characteristic incident comes to mem- 
ory, showing the difference between Howard 
Crosby and the ordinary run of men. 

Several summers ago there were stopping at a 
certain boarding-place two ministers, one the pas- 
tor of a prominent church in one city, the other the 
pastor of an obscure church in another city. A 
well-known minister, who has made his home here 
for several years, and upon whom is incumbent 
the exercise of courtesies to strangers, made it his 
business to call at this boarding-house. He asked 
for the pastor of the rich church, and was most 
gracious in his welcome, but as for the other Pres- 



i So Howard Crosby. 

byterian minister in the house, he didn't deem it 
worth while to inquire for him ; he was only a 
pastor of a poor church. Howard Crosby called 
and inquired for both ministers. Not finding the 
obscure man in he left word how much he regret- 
ted missing him, and called upon him again the 
next day, according him the warmest kind of wel- 
come to Pine Hill, and urging him to become a 
frequent visitor to Crosby Cottage. Though the 
first citizen of the city of Xew York, and one of 
the best of our evangelical scholars, there was no 
spirit o^ exclusiveness about Howard Crosby. He 
consorted with the illiterate and the common peo- 
ple as readily as with scholars and theologians. 
He valued manhood, whatever its surroundings or 
drawbacks. He despised shams, whatever their 
pretensions or position. And during his days of 
recreation among these mountains his greatest 
pleasure seemed to be in placing himself at the 
service of others. Scarcely was there an expedi- 
tion planned for a tramp "up Panther" or ''up 
Slide," or over the mountain roads by men or 
women without Howard Crosby as the enthusiastic 
guide. And the rough places were made smooth 
and the crooked places straight by the wit and 
wisdom of this Christian nobleman. 



Incidents. 1 8 i 

I trust some one- one of his sons — will become 
his biographer and publish his life and letters. 
Such a volume would be attractive and instructive 
to many classes of readers — to more classes than 
the biography of any other American clergyman. 
In the above I have omitted titles, because every 
letter in the name of Howard Crosby is an honor- 
ary degree ! All hail and farewell ! 

August 5, 1891. Rev. N. B. Remick. 



At Pink Hill. 



A COLD DAY IN THE CATSKILLS. 



Summit Mountain, N. Y , 
August 24, 1890 (Special). 
This is a cold day in the mountains. The 
mercury was at 44 degrees ve zero this morn- 

ing. It is moderating gradually to-night. The 
hotel is crowded with guests. A large number of 
New York and Brooklyn people now here expect 
to remain until October. The Rev. Dr. Crosby 
came up from his Birch Creek cottage this morn- 
ing, and delivered a sermon on " Plenteous 



Ho u a rd Crosby. 

Redemption," to over three hundred guests in the 
main parlor. J. W. Bischoff, the blind organist 
and composer, of Washington led the music with 
his concert quartette composed of Mrs. Frank A. 
Nute. the soprano of Epiphany Church, Washing- 
ton ; Mrs. Henry C. Magruder. of All Saints, 
Richmond, contralto, and Fred. A. Grant and Mr. 
Wilson. Count von Prosen. of the Swedish Lega- 
tion, is here, with his friend Baron Becktrus. 

The count was taken with a hemorrhage sud- 
denly yesterday, but is better to-day. Mrs. 
George J. Gould will return to New York to- 
morrow. 



Pine Hill is the nearest village, distant an 
easy mile, for it is all down grade ; and Sunday 
morning we walk down to the Methodist church 
and hear Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby, of New York. 
The little church is crowded, with chairs in the 
aisles, and the congregation is evidently made up 
of strangers. 

The narrow valley between the mountains is 
called Birch Brook Valley ; a musical brook sings 
over the stones all the way by the road as we walk 
back, and down in this delightful spot is Dr. Cros- 
by's comfortable mountain home ; a country house 



Incidents. 183 

in perfect order, painted the color of the bright 
golden rod ; an approach of a rustic framed bridge 
with seats upon it spans the little trout stream. 

A two story house in the rear, a summer-house 
on the bluff above, and rustic seats under a wide- 
branching tree, all belong to the place. Dr. Cros- 
by's domain includes valley, mountain, forest and 
quarry, and the guide-book tells us New York 
City is paved with stone from Catskill quarries ; 
but the quarries nearest the shortest line of trans- 
port are those that pay to be worked. Dr. Cros- 
by intends to trim up the wildwood with paths 
and rustic seats, leave the moss-covered trunks of 
trees and rocks, trim up the under-brush, and to 
induce others to a spirit of public improvement, he 
offers one hundred dollars to the person who will 
set out the most shade trees on the road to the 
village of Pine Hill. 

On the opposite side of the street, just beyond 
Dr. Crosby's, is Vice-Chancellor McCracken's 
house and cottage, with an imposing entrance or 
stone gateway. Dr. McCracken preaches at the 
little village church Sunday evening. At the cot- 
tage is Prof. Houghton and family, of New York 
University. With these three families the Uni- 
versity is well represented. Beyond is the cottage 



184 Howard Crosby. 

of Mr. Munro, of the Munro Publishing Company, 
and on the higher mountain road the spacious 
dwelling of Dr. J. Glentworth Butler, of Brooklyn 
N. Y., who owns thousands of acres in this region. 
Land sells at three hundred and four hundred dol- 
lars an acre, and high as the prices are, Dr. But- 
ler is ambitious to sell only to those who will 
make the best inhabitants. He is a Scotchman, 
and has the Scotch shrewdness, knowing that in- 
tegrity and intelligence will bring the best kind of 
wealth to a community. A native said with sur- 
prise, Dr. Butler would rather sell to a poor domi- 
nie than to a millionaire. 

The early New England settlers had the same 
long look ahead. The founders of the towns in 
the Massachusetts colony dictated who should be 
allowed to purchase town lots in the finest towns, 
and less desirable inhabitants were sent to inferior 
places. Scotch names prevail among the hotels, 
as the Rossmore, the Benvenue, the Grampian, 
the Bellair. The walks and drives are famous, 
and the roads of the best. 

Dr. Crosby is a great pedestrian, and with two 
ladies at the Rossmore Hotel accomplished twen- 
ty-five miles, up and down Slide Mountain, four 
thousand two hundred feet high, the highest peak 



Incidents. 185 

of the Catskills. Unfortunately the view they 
hoped to enjoy was obscured by clouds and storm. 



The Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church has 
re-opened. The Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby will not 
return to his duties, however, until the middle of 
the month. He is still at Pine Hill in the Cats- 
kills, but now and then a trenchant letter from his 
pen appears in the Tribune, to let the police offi- 
cials and the criminals whom they watch know 
that while resting he is not napping. 



Dr. Howard Crosby, of the Fourth Avenue 
Presbyterian Church, has returned from his sum- 
mer vacation thoroughly rested and seemingly able 
to cope with any obstacle except a deadlock in the 
Police Board, caused by the report of his society 
against two police captains. During the summer 
he preached nearly every Sunday in the Methodist 
Church at Pine Hill. 



1 86 Howard Crosby. 

At Lake George 



We had scarcely become 
settled in this sweet resting-place, before the good 
pastor of the village church, Rev. Mr. Huntington, 
called upon us, to assist in a public service on the 
day following. To aid his church, the ladies had 
arranged to have a festival and an evening concert, 
the whole to be preceded by an address from our 
friend, Rev. Dr. Crosby, of the city of Xew York. 

ELOQUENCE AND SCENERY. 

So, the next morning: a little steamer went 
around to all the hotels on the end of the lake, 
and picked up the people who would join in the 
celebration ; from the countryside too they came, 
and from Glens Falls, and strangers from all parts 
assembled on the broad piazza of the magnificent 
Fort William Henry Hotel, the use of which Mr. 
Rosselle, the proprietor, had kindly given for the 
occasion. In the midst of the throng thus gath- 
ered in sight of the lovely waters, and surrounded 
by historic places of thrilling interest, a dry goods 
box was placed for a platform, and some one, 



Incidents. 1 8 7 

whose face I could not see from where I stood, 
proceeded to introduce the orator, the scholar, the 
patriot and the divine ; the Chancellor of the Uni- 
versity of New York City ; and then, pointing to 
the American flag streaming in the wind, he 
recited, 

" The Star Spangled Banner, 
O long may it wave, 
O'er the land of the free, 
And the home of the brave." 

When the flag had been well cheered, Dr. Cros- 
by ascended the tribune in the midst of loud 
applause and gave a condensed and graphic narra- 
tive of the great events that had signalized this 
spot, and this whole region of the country, in the 
old French and Indian war, long before the era of 
the American Revolution. His account of the 
death of Colonel Williams, the founder of Williams 
College, Massachusetts, and the massacre of the 
British by the Indians on evacuating Fort William 
Henry, was listened to with intense interest. The 
discourse throughout, delivered in sight of memor- 
able places to which the speaker often pointed, 
was heard under circumstances that few orators 
can enjoy while teaching history to an audience. 



1 88 Howard Crosby. 

When he had concluded, a vote of thanks was 
given to the speaker with great enthusiasm, sup- 
ported by remarks from Rev. J. Addison Henry, 
of Philadelphia ; Rev. Mr. Murphy and Dr. Dowl- 
ing, of New York. And then adjournment was 
had to a spacious tent, where refreshments were 
served, and in the evening the parlors of the great 
hotel were thronged while an amateur concert was 
enjoyed. To pay for all this pleasure each person 
bought a ticket, and so a very neat little sum was 
contributed by the visitors to aid the struggling 
church, while the buyers got the worth of their 
money several times over. 

IrEN/EUS. 



[From the " Evangelist.' 1 ''] 

AN INCIDENT IN THE LIFE OF THE LATE 
DR. HOWARD CROSBY. 



" Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." 
We often say it, we believe it is true, but we do 
not always remember that these blessed ones 
also lived in the Lord ; and truly if they " lived 
in the Lord" in this poor world, where we " see 



Incidents. 1 89 

darkly," what must their life be now, when they 
see face to face, and know as they are known. 
Even while our tears flow for the beloved dead, 
and Jesus has sanctified by His own tears all 
holy weeping, we may hear with the ears of 
faith the bursts of triumph with which they are 
welcomed when they " come again," bringing 
their sheaves with them. 

Not many days before the commencement of 
the illness which has deprived his people of a 
devoted pastor, and the City of New York of one 
of its noblest sons, I heard an anecdote of Dr 
Howard Crosby's life from a member of his 
family ; as I thought it was one which would 
give general satisfaction, and as it pointed a 
moral on a subject in which I am interested and 
anxious to interest others, I wrote to Dr. Crosby 
and asked him for permission to make the in- 
cident public, either with or without giving his 
name. I received a prompt reply giving me a 
willing authorization to publish the incident and 
also to use his name. Truly he being dead yet 
speaketh. 

I observed that in some of the biographical 
sketches which appeared after his death, in the 
papers, mention was made of his having lived 



190 Howard Crosby. 

on a farm near New York while quite a boy. 
It was at this time that he began his blessed 
work for God. As I was told, he was in delicate 
health when a lad of nineteen and was sent with 
his brother to recuperate on this farm. Their 
good mother put the boys in charge of a faithful 
old Irish servant. That she was a devout Roman 
Catholic "goes without saying." 

The young lads, accustomed to family prayers 
at home, decided that they would read the word 
of God and pray together every morning. 

The servant naturally wondered what those 
boys could be reading so devoutly day by day, 
and it need not be said that she was not in the 
habit either of reading the Bible, or of hearing 
it read. She listened at first from curiosity, 
then from interest, and then from conviction. 
No Protestant can possibly understand what a 
revelation it is to a Roman Catholic, when she 
hears the simple Gospel of Jesus for the first 
time. Accustomed as the Roman Catholic is 
from earliest childhood to read such a book as 
the " Glories of Mary," and look upon it as impos- 
sible to approach God except through the inter- 
cession of Mary, the idea of going direct to 
Christ is something so incredible that it requires 



Incidents. 1 9 1 

time to grasp the idea. But once the real Mediat- 
orship of Christ is realized, Rome entices in vain. 

So this poor Irish woman, by the simple hear- 
ing of the Word of God, day after day, learned 
that Christ could save her " by Himself," and 
what was, if possible, better still, that she could 
go direct to Him without the intervention of 
saint or angel, and that He could feel, and did 
feel for her human infirmities, as none other 
could feel. 

Thus was the conversion of a soul the happy 
result of the piety of the youths, and their piety 
was the happy result of the example of holy 
parents. M. F. Cusick. (The Nun of Ken- 
mare.) 



NOT JUDGE MEARES, OF ST. LOUIS. 



" Why, good-morning, Judge Meares, I am very 
glad to see you," was the salutation which a well 
dressed young man yesterday morning addressed 
to a man of pleasant appearance and middle age, 
who was looking in a window in Broadway near 



192 Howard Crosby. 

26th Street. The senior of the two had been walk- 
ing up the street quite rapidly, until he noticed the 
clock in front of the Fifth Avenue Hotel, when 
his gait slackened, and his manner changed. As- 
suming the walk of a countryman and exhibiting 
the curiosity of a stranger in the city, within three 
minutes he was addressed by his young friend. 

"Good-morning," he replied, smiling graciously 
and grasping cordially the hand extended to him, 
" I am glad to meet you. How is your father ?" 

The young man had not looked for a recogni- 
tion on the part of the other, and suddenly 
straightening up, he said, "Am I mistaken ? Is 
this not Judge Meares, of St. Louis ?" 

" No, I think not," was the unsatisfactory reply. 

" Pardon me," continued the young man, " but I 
was reminded of my father's friend, Judge Meares, 
of St. Louis. May I ask your name?" 

Drawing himself up to his natural position and 
adjusting his hat as it had previously been worn, 
the counterpart of Judge Meares spoke in those 
forcible tones so familiar to New York audi- 
ences : 

" I am not Judge Meares, of St. Louis, but I 
am Dr. Howard Crosby, of New — " but before 
he could finish the sentence the young man 



Incidents. 193 

had darted away as if propelled by an unseen 
power. 

Dr. Crosby had been trying a little experiment 
to learn if Broadway was clear of confidence men. 



[From the Tonkers Statesman.'] 

Just rebuke, 



As Dr. Crosby was appealing to the people 
of Newark on Monday evening for law and 
order and a Christian Sabbath, a man in the 
audience with shaggy hair arose, and, leaning 
over the back of a pew, interrupted the speaker 
by asking : 

" Ees that your logic, sir ?" 

Dr. Crosby looked at him for a moment, and 
intense stillness reigned among the audience. 

" When you have learned the English lan- 
guage sufficiently well to speak or understand 
it, then you can come here to insult an Ameri- 
can audience!" thundered Dr. Crosby. 

The man settled back into his seat as a roar 
of applause like the noise of an earthquake broke 



194 Howard Crosby. 

the stillness. Men and women clapped their 
hands for at least two minutes, and the excitement 
became intense. When the applause ceased, Dr. 
Crosby pointed his ringer at the man, and fairly 
shouted, in his indignation : 

" That is just a specimen of what we are endur- 
ing in this country. Men who have not yet got 
the brogue off them are attempting to destroy and 
overturn American institutions ! " 

Another burst of perfectly overwhelming and 
long-continued applause resounded through the 
church. 

It is fully time for just such rebukes. Because 
men from all parts of the world are made welcome 
to our shores, they demand the "liberty" to 
subvert our laws, and destroy the very principles 
that have made our Republic great, good, and 
free. 



[From the New Brunswick (N. J.) Fredonian.] 

Rev. Dr. Crosby. 



On Sunday afternoon the First Presbyterian 
Church of this city was crowded to its utmost 
capacity by an audience drawn together by an 



Incidents. 195 

announcement that the pastor, Rev. Dr. Crosby, 
was to deliver a sermon before the Olden Guard. 
A portion of the members of this company were 
seated in the front part of the church, when 
the pastor proceeded with the services, which 
were highly appropriate to the occasion. The 
sermon was a masterly effort, patriotic and 
well calculated to have a good effect upon the 
audience and those for whom it was especially 
delivered. 



His Work His Recreation. 



The Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby is taking his 
recreation in Asia, that is to say, his mind is prin- 
cipally in the great continent just now. The 
writer found him on his knees in his front parlor, 
hunting for a parish in the heart of India, with the 
intention probably of sending a missionary out 
there. The map he studied was a big one, but the 
parish seemed very hard to find, and the good 
Doctor was much puzzled. And, of course, he was 
too engrossed to say much about fishing, shooting, 
baseball, football, the theatre, billiards, etc., etc. 



196 Howard Crosby. 

With a sweep of the arm that seemed to take in 
the universe, he said : 

*' I take no interest in such things now. I've 
too many other things to do. Excuse me, excuse 
me, if you please, from saying more than that." 

And he went at his map again eagerly, hungrily. 
The Doctor can do as much work in a day as the 
youngest and strongest clergyman in New York. 
If he ever tires, nobody knows it. He takes up 
his tasks with such enthusiasm, and becomes so 
absorbed in them, that instead of being burden- 
some, they afford him amusement and recreation. 
With him a change of work brings rest. He is 
like the philosophical farmer who was in the habit 
of carrying a fence rail on his shoulder in order 
that by occasionally throwing it down he might 
experience the pleasing sensation of relief from 
the burden of supporting it. The Doctor lays 
down one burden only to take up another. 



Incidents. 197 

[From the i4 New York Tribune.'"] 

DR, CROSBY AND THE RECORDER. 



LETTER FROM THE "ZEALOUS DIVINE." 



NOT THE APOLOGY WHICH THE RECORDER WANTED, BUT 
SOME SENSIBLE ADVICE WITHAL. 



Sir : Recorder Hackett has called on me for 
an apology. I wish I could gratify him. I am 
always ready to apologize when I find I have 
wronged any one. I have not wronged the Re- 
corder, and cannot, therefore, make nzm an apol- 
ogy- 

I publicly read, two weeks ago, a statement of 

his treatment of three notorious cases of illegal 
rum-selling, brought up for second offences, to 
which the Recorder had promised the extremity of 
the law. This treatment (instead of prompt and 
severe sentence) consisted of a succession of de- 
lays in sentence extending over several weeks, os- 
tensibly that the culprits might find grounds for 
mitigation of punishment, when they were daily 
continuing their illegal sales. Having read this 
statement, I said that this strange delay needed an 



igS Howard Crosby. 

explanation. The Recorder then explained that it 
was owine to his inability, through sickness, to ex- 
amine the affidavits for mitigation of punishment. 
As the Recorder was, meanwhile, attending to 
his other official duties, this excuse did not carry 
much weight, and so I said. 

Xow. I cannot see where the apology is to come 
in. If I should write anything, it would be to add 
to my former statement, that the Recorder had 
since broken his promise by refusing to give to 
the culprits the extremity of the law. and 
has sentenced one of the cases to only one. and 
another to only two months' imprisonment, giving 
no imprisonment at all to others. Not only has 
he broken his promise, but he has given the 
wretched argument in plea that no violators of the 
Excise Law had been imprisoned before. Pray, 
whose fault is that, if not the Recorders ? Be- 
cause he had not dealt strongly with this style of 
notorious law-breakers before, therefore he would 
not do it now ! 

The Recorder has further stated that in sen- 
tencing he would not take into consideration what 
the culprits had done since conviction, to wit : that 
they had kept on selling illegally. This, if an ex- 
cuse, is a fallacv. The Recorder would be very 



Incidents. 199 

right in not considering, before conviction, matter 
occurring after indictment ; but it is quite a differ- 
ent thing to consider, after conviction, matter oc- 
curring before sentence. For example, if he had 
a thief before him for sentence, and learned that 
after conviction the thief had been very riotous, 
abusive and threatening, he would, of course, use 
his discretionary power for a severer sentence. So 
the Recorder's logic is as unsatisfactory as his ex- 
planations. 

The people of New York are aroused and are 
thoroughly in earnest. They will not have any 
laxity in the administration of justice and the en- 
forcement of the laws. The officials should un- 
derstand this at once, and heartily second the peo- 
ple's will, or else give place to more resolute men. 
Will the Recorder accept the advice of a " zealous 
divine" (who is also a born New York citizen) as 
the nearest thing to an apology he can honestly 
offer ? As for an apology to the District Attor- 
ney, I shall treat him as one gentleman should 
another, when he speaks for himself. 

Yours, very respectfully, 

Howard Crosby. 
New York, December 29, 1877. 



200 Howard Crosby. 

On Education, 



The morning exercises were closed by the ad- 
dress of Prof. Howard Crosby, of the New York 
University, who, for over one hour held his au- 
dience enchained by his splendid powers of ora- 
tory, and the masterly skill with which he handled 
his subject. To attempt to give an abstract of 
his address in the narrow limits left us at this late 
hour in the week, would be utterly impossible. It 
was the grandest truths uttered in the simplest 
language of real eloquence. It was all practical, 
descending to even the minutest details, and from 
first to last, the embodiment of a complete educa- 
tional system. As the addresses will all be pub- 
lished in a few days, our citizens will have them at 
their command. 



[From the " American Cultivator.''''] 

A. Man Saved. 



Since the death of the Rev. Howard Crosby, 
of New York City, a suggestive story is told of a 
burglar whom the clergyman captured in his room 



Incidents. 201 

a few years ago. He marched his man to the 
police station, had him indicted, tried, and sen- 
tenced to State prison for three years. So far 
everything went along as such affairs usually do. 
But when the doctor got his man behind prison 
bars he conceived it his duty to instruct, and if 
possible, to reform him. He began a correspon- 
dence and occasionally paid visits to his burglar. 
Before long he became satisfied that the man was 
thoroughly repentant of his evil life, when Dr. 
Crosby went to the Governor of New York and 
secured his pardon. The ex-convict, whose name 
is not given, became a respected and useful mem- 
ber of society and of the church. Undoubtedly 
he now is sincerely thankful that he became ac- 
quainted with Dr. Crosby, even though it was 
under such unfavorable circumstances. This is the 
kind of story that must comfort the minds of 
friends of any man after he is dead. But in how 
large a proportion do those who have suffered by 
wrong-doing feel any responsibility for the wrong- 
doer after they have put him in the way of being 
punished ? Concede, that punishment has all the 
virtues as medicine for sin that have ever been 
claimed, is it not clear from this incident that pun- 
ishment itself is made more effective if love and 



202 Howard Crosby. 

helpfulness go with it? Not many men have con- 
sciences alert enough to recognize a call to preach 
to a burglar who is caught while breaking into 
their house. 



[Dr. Howard Crosby in " Lend a Hand.'''] 

THE CHARITY PROBLEM SOLVED. 



I had a dear friend — of course she was a lady 
— and she used to give regularly ten cents every 
day to a poor, blind beggar that stood on the cor- 
ner of Second Avenue. Every day that she 
passed the ten cents went in. I admired her 
benevolence, her sympathy and her generosity, but 
I had a little suspicion that she was wrong, and 
I concluded I would find out the history of the 
poor, blind man. So I engaged a very excellent 
fellow I knew well, to follow him up and see if he 
could find out something of his history. My 
young friend followed him up. At six o'clock in 
the evening a woman came and took the blind 
man in tow from Second Avenue and Eleventh 
Street, and led him to Forty-ninth Street and 
Tenth Avenue, and there two stout young men, 



Incidents. 203 

who kept a little gambling den, received the blind 
man most graciously, and he counted out the 
money he had received for that day's blindness, 
and it was fourteen dollars ; and those two young 
men kindly kept the blind man, gave him food and 
lodging, and the blind man paid them for the kind- 
ness fourteen dollars, which the kind ladies like 
my friend managed to give them. 

They are ingenious, these fellows ; there is a 
sort of humor about them. One of them went to 
my friend. Dr. Parkhurst, about four weeks ago — 
he was quite a gentlemanly looking man, but 
rather seedy — and said, " Dr. Parkhurst, Dr. Cros- 
by recommended me to come to you. I am very 
much in need of a pair of spectacles ; my eyes are 
poor, and all I want now to enable me to work is a 
pair of spectacles." Dr. Parkhurst, rather sus- 
pecting the man, said, " Why did not you ask Dr. 
Crosby for the spectacles?" " Well," said he, "he 
has been so kind to me, I did not dare to ask him 
for any more favors, for the truth is, Dr. Parkhurst, 
I have been dining with him for the last two 
weeks, every day." 

Dr. Parkhurst sent me a note telling me of the 
fact ; of course, I told him it was a lie out of 
whole cloth. But what was my surprise on seeing 



204 Howard Crosby. 

the man himself at my own house come boldly to 
me, and said he, "You have told Dr. Parkhurst 
that 1 lied." " Yes," said I, "I did." Then he 
said, in a sort of stage style, before me to the boy, 
" Don't you know me?" " Yes, sir." I then said 
to the boy, "Why, where have you seen him?" 
11 Why, sir, he has come to our area for the last 
two weeks, and I have given him cold victuals." 
That was the dining with me. I had not the 
pleasure of the man's acquaintance. 

Two years ago I happened to tell the story of a 
burglar who entered my house. I got him out of 
prison, where he was sent for fifteen years, in five 
years, and now in a distant land he is a very prom- 
ising citizen, entirely reformed, and with an 
excellent wife and home, and I hear from him con- 
stantly. I happened to tell that story, and for a 
month afterward I had men just out of prison 
come to my home by the score. They all read the 
newspapers. 

But the question comes : What shall we do to 
discriminate ? xA.nd Charity organization comes 
forward to solve the problem ; tells conscience 
that we don't become hardened at all, we simply 
become discriminating when we follow a wise sys- 
tem, and the only wise system which will really 



Incidents. 205 

help the poor and not make them worse, which 
comes in collision with no creed or party, but em- 
braces all creeds and all parties in its wise, benev- 
olent work. Under its guidance we will have our 
charity cultivated, not stifled. Under its guidance, 
we will be able to see the fruit of our charity. 
Under its guidance, our charity will be the true 
charity, that is so magnified by the great Apostle, 
in his prose poem in its praise. 



Closing Banquet. 



SOCIAL GATHERING AT DELMONICO S — SPEECH BY THE REV. 
DR. CROSBY. 



A banquet was given at Delmonico's last even- 
ing by the Hebrews of this city to the represen- 
tatives of the Council, which closed its session 
yesterday. The menu was prepared by David 
Canter, a Hebrew caterer, and no lard was used in 
the preparation of the viands. Louis May pre- 
sided. On his right sat the Rev. Dr. Howard 
Crosby, and on his left the president of the late 
Council, William B. Hackenburg, of Philadelphia. 



206 Howard Crosby. 

Next to Dr. Crosby sat Jesse Seligman, and fol- 
lowing him in regular order at the same table, 
were the Rev. Dr. Lilienthal, of Cincinnati ; the 
Rev. H. S. Jacobs, of this city ; the Rev. Abraham 
Isaacs and the Rev. Dr. Landsberg, of Rochester. 
The first toast of the evening was " Our Country," 
which was responded to by Simon Wolf, of Wash- 
ington. " The Empire City" was responded to by 
Dr. Mark Blumenthal ; and " The Seats of Learn- 
ing" by the Rev. Dr. Crosby. The announce- 
ment of this gentleman's name by the president 
was greeted with great applause, the guests wav- 
ing their napkins above their heads and cheer- 
ing loudly. He briefly reviewed the history of 
the Jewish people, their persecutions, and their 
present strength in our own country. He spoke 
with much solemnity and earnestness, and his lib- 
eral expressions excited great enthusiasm. When, 
at the close of his address, he bowed in acknowl- 
edgment of the honor which the Hebrews had 
extended to him by their invitation, the entire 
party arose and drank to his health. 



The Preacher and Citizen. 209 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE PREACHER AND CITIZEN. 



Portraits ok the Clergy. 



By J. Alexander Patten. 



ON BEING CALLED AS PASTOR OF THE FOURTH 
AVENUE CHURCH, 1863. 



Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby was born in New 
York, February 27, 1826. He graduated at the 
New York University, in 1844, an d pursued a 
theological course privately. In 185 1 he became 
Professor of Greek in the New York University, 
and in 1859 professor of the same language in 
Rutgers College, New Brunswick. He was or- 
dained a minister of the Presbyterian Church by 
the Presbytery of New Brunswick, in 1861, and 
added the pastorship of the first Presbyterian 
Church to his duties at the college. In March 



210 Howard Crosby. 

1863, he became pastor of the Fourth Avenue 
Presbyterian Church, New York, formerly the 
Bleecker Street Church. The pastors of this 
church have been three besides Dr. Crosby — viz.: 
Rev. Mathias Bruen, Rev. Erskine Mason, D.D., 
Rev. Joel Parker, D.D. Dr. Crosby received the 
degree of D.D. from Harvard University in 1859. 
He published, in 1850, a book of Oriental travel, 
entitled " Lands of the Moslem;" in 185 1, an 
edition of one of the plays of Sophocles; and 
during the present year his " Commentary on the 
New Testament." He has been a constant con- 
tributor for twenty years to the leading reviews 
and periodicals and the religious press, and has 
issued numerous pamphlets on theological, classi- 
cal and educational subjects. 

The following is a glowing passage from the 
" Lands of the Moslem," descriptive of the authors 
approach to Jerusalem : 

" The convent of Mar Elyas was before us, 
placed where the monks say the prophet rested on 
his way to Beersheba, and where they pretend to 
show the mark left by his sleeping body in the 
rock. We gazed anxiously upon its white walls, 
and urp-ed our horses ud the hill-side ; but it was 
not the shining convent that gave us energy and 



The Preacher and Citizen. 2 1 1 

sent the thrill of eager expectation through our 
veins ; but we knew from that monastic height the 
eye might rest upon Jerusalem. The intensity of 
hope rendered us speechless as we hastened along 
the stony path ; joy and awe were alike in accumu- 
lating in our hearts as we neared its summit. The 
past and the present were equally unheeded, for 
our whole thoughts were centred on the future 
prospect. Onward, with increasing zeal we vied 
in the ascent. The point was gained, and the 
Holy City lay fair and peaceful before our enrap- 
tured eyes. Not in the wild forest of the western 
world, not among the huge wrecks of Egyptian 
art, not on the snow-clad peaks of romantic 
Switzerland, had any scene so riveted our gaze. 
The drapery of nature in the land of the setting 
sun was richer far. The halls of the Karnac had 
published the highest triumph of the human 
powers, and Alpine ranges had yielded far nobler 
spectacles of earth's magnificence ; yet here were 
all surpassed, for heaven threw its shechinah upon 
the scene, and clothed the hill of Zion with a robe 
of glory. The sweetest memories hovered like 
fairest angels over the towers of Salem. Past, 
present, and future, all concentred on the oracle 
of God. There is Zion, the home of the psalmist- 



212 Howard Crosby. 

monarch ; there Moriah, the mount of Israel's 
God ; and yonder, green with its appropriate foli- 
age, and graceful as a heavenly height, is mild and 
Holy Olivet. They rise as beacons to the wearied 
soul, and all are bathed in the radiance of the 
Cross. The scene was grand, unspeakably. Our 
overflowing hearts sent forth their swollen streams 
of feeling in noted rejoicing. We looked back 
upon Bethlehem — there was the cradle ; we turned 
to Calvary — there was the grave. Between these 
two had heaven and earth been reconciled. We 
paused awhile to drink deep of this first draught, 
and then spurred on to reach the city." 

Dr. Crosby is above the average height and well 
proportioned. He does not look more than his 
age ; and has all that vigor common to thirty- 
seven. His head is rather long than broad, and 
thick, straight, black hair is combed from an intel- 
lectual brow. He has a calm, searching glance, 
but his expression is most kindly. In conversation 
his face becomes animated, but at other times it 
has a serious, reflective repose. His manners are 
extremely cordial. He exhibits a true gentleman- 
ly dignity fitting to his position, and nothing be- 
yond. 

Dr. Crosby is a man of varied and profound 



The Preacher and Citizen. 2 1 3 

learning. His natural quickness of intellect and 
indomitable perseverance have led him along the 
channels of erudition until he has attained a 
thoroughness and comprehensiveness of scholar- 
ship which is fully recognized by the savans of 
America and Europe. As a professor of Greek 
he was a most successful teacher, and his attain- 
ments in this particular branch of study are of the 
first order. Joined with the extended scope of his 
investigations, he has had the advantage of travel 
in foreign lands. The ardor with which he has 
pursued his far wanderings is fully shown in the 
" Lands of the Moslem." Nothing of interest in 
his way seems to have escaped him, and his de- 
scription of character and paintings of scenery are 
eloquently beautiful, while acknowledged by other 
travellers to be entirely accurate. 

Dr. Crosby belongs to the most valuable class 
of living scholars. He is neither of the juvenile 
nor the hoary-headed. He occupies that middle 
and safer ground of learning, when the energies 
are unrelaxed by reason of inordinate conceit, and 
the mind is unfettered by the pedantry of age. 
He has not been made a drone in the great hive 
of intellectual progress by the position, advance- 
ments, and emoluments growing out of success in 



2 1 4 Howard Crosby. 

early life, or does he sit gorged with triumphs, 
and egotistical from these crowning honors. On 
the contrary, he finds that he has work to do. He 
belongs to the workers and not to the idlers, ego- 
tists, and dreamers. He is a part of the vast 
power of mind which is bearing his century to the 
most glorious page of all history. With the pros- 
pect of many useful years before him, energetic in 
the prosecution of all that he undertakes, and 
enthusiastic in developing the resource sof intel- 
ligence, he can but be a most efficient laborer in 
the cause of knowledge. 

Dr. Crosby is an agreeable, interesting preacher. 
The observer is at once struck with his entire 
want of display, in both matter and manner. He 
announces his text twice, and looks steadily at his 
congregation until he is seemingly satisfied that 
they comprehend it. Without any trouble about 
fine writing and brilliant oratory, he reaches the 
argument which he desires to present. While his 
language is well selected, and used with the skill 
of a professional writer, there is no effort to cull 
especially eloquent and poetic phrases ; and, as to 
declamation, while it is vigorous, there is no at- 
tempt to parade oratorical graces. In truth, he is 
a plain practical reasoner. His power is in sys- 



The Preacher and Citizen. 215 

tematic argument, in the irrefutable maxims of 
logic, and in Christian zeal. His congregation 
certainly enjoy a great advantage from his preach- 
ing as regards the particular and learned elucida- 
tion of the true translation and meaning of the 
Scriptures. Being a trained classical scholar and 
an accepted commentator, his sermons are very 
rich in information in these particulars. At times 
he is considerably animated. Absorbed in his 
theme, and moved by the force of the reasoning, 
his voice rises and he gesticulates with some vehe- 
mence, soon falling back, however, to the calm 
course of his argument. When he has concluded, 
the subject will be as nearly exhausted as the time 
permits. 

From our statement it will be seen that the 
New York pulpit has gained an important acqui- 
sition in Dr. Crosby. He is fully conscious of the 
enlarged claims now to be made upon those quali- 
fications which have received gratifying recogni- 
tion in other fields, and he is not the man to fall 
short of public expectation, or to measure his 
energies by anything save the attainment of 
success. 



1 6 Howard Crosby. 

CRIMINALITY OF DRUNKENNESS. 



SERMON BY THE REV. HOWARD CROSBY, D. D., PREACHED AT 

THE FOURTH AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 

N. Y., SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 1874. 



A forcible and plain spoken sermon on the 
depravity of intemperance was preached by Rev. 
Howard Crosby, D.D., at the Fourth Avenue 
Presbyterian Church, as above. His text was 
Philippians, iv. 5: — " Let your moderation be 
known unto all men." 

My purpose, said he, this morning is to inquire 
as to Christian study in view of the prevailing sin 
of drunkenness. I need not enlarge upon the sin 
itself. It belongs to the category of the grossest 
depravity, and its results, in the ruin of health, 
character, estate, home, and all that is fair and 
hopeful in this life and the life to come, cannot be 
exaggerated. I am often afraid that the deep 
guilt of the drunkard is not sufficiently appre- 
ciated by many Christians who are wont to exer- 
cise toward him pity rather than indignation, and 
thus suggest to him that his drunkenness is rather 
a misfortune than a sin. It is true that we are to 



The Preacher and Citizen. 2 1 7 

pity every sinner and tenderly seek his salvation ; 
but this is perfectly consistent with any unyielding 
testimony to the heinousness of his sin. 

Now, it is too often the case that while we fail 
not to pronounce our condemnation of the liar, 
the robber and the murderer, we use a different 
language to the drunkard, and speak of him as a 
victim of misfortune, while we save all our re- 
proaches for the man who furnished him with the 
materials for his crime. This is an error that 
directly confirms the drunkard in his vicious 
course. The man who wittingly furnishes a drunk- 
ard is bad enough to please Satan, but his wicked- 
ness detracts nothing from the crime of the drunk- 
ard. We have no more right to condone his 
crime and say " the poor drunkard," than we have 
to say " the poor robber," "the poor adulterer," 
" the poor murderer." He is equally a criminal, 
and our pity should be equally given to all in our 
desire to recover them from their wickedness and 
misery, and our firm condemnation should be 
equally expressed against all in the exercise of the 
same desire. 

Here I find the Christian's first duty with re- 
gard to this prevailing sin — a clear, firm denuncia- 
tion of and indignation against the sin itself. We 



Howard t 

have seen how this testimony is often weakened, 
or even entirely conducted off by our attention to 
the seller of the liquor. Another way in which we 
weaken or even nullify this testimony against the 
sin of drunkenness is by laying the blame on those 
who never drink to excess and who are as careful 
to avoid drunkenness as they are to avoid robbery. 
Whether the moderate drinker is a sinner, because 
he is a moderate drinker, we shall endeavor to 
ascertain a little later in our discussion. But cer- 
tainly he is not a drunkard, and we ought not to 
let our indignation against drunkenness fall on one 
who is not a drunkard. If he is guilty of a crime 
let us fasten that crime upon him, and hold him 
responsible, but let not this due attention to the 
moderate drinker dissipate our proper testimony 
against the drunkard. 

This is the only point I am making now, that 
we, as Christians, owe it as our duty to proclaim 
always and in all cases that the drunkard is, as 
such, a heinous sinner before God. We are :: 
allow no side issues to weaken this testimony. 
Thousands of prospective drunkards would be 
preserved from the fearful career if they knew that 
the drunkard was ranked with the murderer in the 
estimation of the community. Instead of this 



The Preacher and Citizen. 2 [ 9 

they think now that if they should become drunk- 
ards they will be pitied and cuddled as maltreated 
victims of society, while the rumseller and the 
moderate drinker will get all the castigation. 

Our second Christian duty grows out of the 
first. We should see to it that the strength of the 
law should fall upon the crime. We should strive 
to have simple and clearly understood laws against 
the drunkards as against the thief. The drunkard 
should be seized by the officers of the law and pun- 
ished. Now we put him in an asylum, and that 
only when he is willing to go. The penitentiary 
for the thief and the free asylum for the drunkard. 
Why this difference ? Are they not equally wilful 
sinners against the community ? Which does the 
most harm to the community —the drunkard or the 
thief? Why this tenderness to the drunkard, that 
we would not extend, for the world, to the thief? 
Ah, brethren, this apologizing for drunkenness by 
calling it an insanity, a constitutional weakness, is 
directly in the face of God's revealed word, and a 
sure promoter of the dreadful evil. 

Let the law imprison the drunkard as a criminal 
by a judicious scale of terms of imprisonment pro- 
portioned to the frequency of the offence. Let 
there be no more sympathy for him in the way 



220 Howard Crosby. 

of delicacies and luxuries than for other criminals. 
Thus let him feel that he is a sinner, a gross 
offender, and let this feeling be the text of his 
meditations. When he is separated from thd 
world as a criminal he will take a new and a true 
and healthy view of his real condition, and in the 
truth of this view will be the hope of his amend- 
ment. He will be much more likely to come to 
himself (in the scripture meaning of that phrase), 
when he sees himself as he really is — a criminal — ■ 
than when he imagines himself what he is not, a 
mere unfortunate. 

I am not arguing in behalf of the rumseller or 
the moderare drinker. If they are guilty, let them 
be punished, too, to their full measure, but we 
must not let them be the drunkard's scapegoats. 
When we punish the accessories to a murder, we 
never think of releasing the murderer on that ac- 
count. The community is so full of maudlin sen- 
timentality in this matter, that I feel it necessary 
to lay special emphasis on this cardinal principle, 
that drunkenness is the crime of the drunkard, no 
matter how many helped him to it. It is whol- 
ly against scripture to excuse him in any way. 
Drunkards are very glad to use the excuses with 
which foolish friends furnish them ; excuses which 



The Preacher and Citizen. 221 

would reduce all sin to accident, misfortune, and 
amiable weakness, and utterly abolish the distinc- 
tions between right and wrong which God has 
made in His word. 

Infidels delight to see Christians making this 
confusion, and so endorsing their social theories, 
which deny God and truth, and moral distinctions. 
Now, if Christians are to make laws for the coun- 
try, let them count as crimes what God counts as 
crimes, and act accordingly. Let them make the 
distinctions which God has made, and be guided 
by the Divine counsel, and not by the theories of 
materialistic philosophers. Let them call sin by 
its right name, and so far as it is an injury to the 
community, punish it. 

Our third suggestion brings us to the rum- 
sellers. The name is now generally used for those 
who sell rum and other intoxicating liquors to 
others as a beverage, by whose direct means most 
of our drunkards are made. Of course, no man 
in his senses will suppose it wrong for a man to 
sell intoxicating liquor for mechanical or medicinal 
purposes. Though such a man should sell rum, 
we should not like to give him the now oppro- 
brious title of " rumseller," we mean the drunkard 
maker, the man who is daily supplying the drunk- 



222 Howard Crosby. 

ard's wants, whether directly by handing the 
glass to the tippler, or indirectly by providing the 
saloon-bar from his down-town wholesale store. 

These men know exactly what they are about. 
They are not dear innocents, only desiring to re- 
fresh their fellow-men with a healthy beverage, 
but they are thorough villains, ready to make 
their fortunes on the ruin of body and soul of 
thousands. The tippling saloon is as much a gate 
of hell as the church is a gate of heaven. The 
men who run it and support it are the devil's own. 
Those merchants who wilfully furnish the liquor 
for it are as guilty as the man behind the bar. A 
law must be made forbidding tippling. This strikes 
the sin where it begins, so far as man's imperfect 
police can trace. It blots out from the commu- 
nity the favorite scene of rows and riots. It 
squelches the nest where are hatched the disturb- 
ance of the public peace. Such a law would com- 
mand the support of the great mass of sensible 
men. 

We have now reached the other abettors of the 
drunkard — the moderate drinkers. The first 
question I ask here is, " How do the moderate 
drinkers abet the drunkard?" Certainly not in 
the same way with the rumsellers. The moderate 



The Preacher and Citizen. 223 

drinker does not furnish liquor to the drunkard. 
He does not make money out of a crime. Then 
it can only be by example or by beginning a 
course which leads to drunkardness. As to the 
first example, I'm sure there are many crude and 
false notions afloat. An example is a pattern 
which we copy. 

If I exercise with dumb-bells or the lift-cure for 
five minutes a day and am thereby strengthened 
in my bodily health, surely the man who exercises 
with dumb-bells or lift-cure for two hours a day, 
and so ruins his physical constitution, does not 
follow me as an example. He does not copy my 
pattern. If I had been his example he would have 
gained health, but he departed from my example, 
and so he strained his nervous system and 
destroyed his health. If the drunkard copied the 
example of the moderate drinker he would be no 
drunkard. But he departs from the example of 
the moderate drinker, and instead of being a mod- 
erate drinker is a drunkard. 

Ought we not to abstain for expediency sake ? 
I ask, did our Lord so abstain ? But, say some, 
our days are different. There is more drunken- 
ness now. If so, did not our Lord know it would 
be so when he gave us his example ? But is it so ? 



: : _ Howard Crosby. 

The Roman Empire in our Lord's day was full of 
drunkards. Read Juvenal, Persius, Horace, Pe- 
tronius, and see vhat was the fearful rioting and 
debauchery of that first century. I fully believe 
that drunkenness was a far more common vice 
then than now. If I had time I could quote you 
:-. . : he: ;.:ke: :::::.': :/.:.: :_ : make rriy srareirie::: 
at least a very probable one. 

A: £ here I make the charge against my total 
at srinence friends, with all regard for their honesty 
of purpose and with a true sympathy with their 
::.'.:- :ha: rhey are making very many ::■ 
stumble by preach i n g a false gospeL The ch u : ches 
swarm with total abstinence societies, total abs ti- 
re a: e '::aye:-raee:hav;5 :::a. arsririerire :e^±::a- 
tions, total abstinence bands of hope, and total 
abstinence literature, until it is the most natural 
thing in the world to suppose that total abstinence 
is the one great burden of the Gospel. Now what 
is the natural effect of all this upon the world at 
Large? It simply disgusts them into a determi- 
nation of opposition which increases the drunken- 
::ef= : : :he haad, 

I believe that the misguided efforts : : gc :d men 

:. :he :::a' a':s::aea:e :ause have ia::easei rrea:- 

fehe evil they sought to abate. As a minority- 



The Preacher and Citizen. 225 

they have been always defeated in legislation in 
our State, when, if they would join men of moder- 
ate views, who would put down drunkards and 
drunkard factories, they would win a glorious 
victory for true and healthful temperance. I say 
this in no enmity or bitterness. Some of the lead- 
ers of the total abstinence movement are men at 
whose feet it would become me to sit, men whom 
I revere and love, men of God, with whom I take 
sweet counsel. 

Far be it from me to say one word against 
those faithful and excellent brethren ! I honor 
their motives and their thorough honesty ; I wish 
they would honor mine. . They have sometimes 
used hard words against me, but I do not 
believe they meant them. They are too good to 
use slander or obloquy as weapons. We are en- 
gaged in the cause of the same Saviour, who 
has redeemed us alike by His blood, and we can- 
not as brethren in so great salvation do otherwise 
than love one another, even when we differ. 

But what now is the conclusion of the whole 
matter ? We hold that there is no wrong for the 
moderate use of intoxicating beverages, but, on 
the contrary, that drunkenness will be the best met 
by the manly and reasonable course of moderation 



226 Howard Crosby. 

which our Lord furnished us by His example, and 
that those who thus live with principles of moder- 
ation, are the very ones who should mark out 
drunkards and drunkard-makers for condign pun- 
ishment, and reform through punishment. We 
hold, too, that special cases are coming up con- 
stantly in this as in every other phase of human 
life, which call for special application of the prin- 
ciple of expediency, of which each man himself 
must necessarily be the sole judge, as before God. 

We hold, moreover, that for all this a heart 
sanctified by the Holy Spirit, a life hid with Christ 
in God is the first essential ; that all plans are 
futile without that dependence upon a wisdom and 
power higher than our own. We hold that prayer 
is the direct use of this divine power, having the 
power of perfect efficiency. We hold that no 
moral reform can be effected except in this way ; 
that mere human and humanitarian schemes are 
sure to fail and react, and that Christians should 
be all alive for the interests of Christ's kingdom, 
and promote all reforms through the converting 
power of the truth as it is in Jesus. 

I wish, in conclusion, to utter my protest against 
what are called the " drinking usages of society." 
For a lady to cover her table with wine on Xew 



The Preacher and Citizen. 227 

Year's Day is to promote drunkenness in a very 
direct manner. The young man who takes a little 
at each house he visits goes home a drunkard, and 
the ladies who gave him the drink are responsible. 
Not because drinking wine is wrong — not at all ; 
that's the wild conclusion our illogical total ab- 
stinence friends jump to ; but because the New 
Year's machinery necessarily manufactures drunk- 
enness. 

All wine-sipping or wine-tippling, sitting or 
standing to admire wines and "jockey "on them as 
they do on horses ; all this is simply pernicious, 
because it is intemperate. The habit of " treating," 
as it is called, belongs to this category. It is an 
utter abuse in itself, and almost always connected 
with distilled liquors, which are never safe. Any 
young man who puts himself in such a position is 
in danger. Why ? Because he drinks ? Not at 
all. But because he is drinking improper articles, 
or in improper circumstances. Any man's own con- 
science tells him that to go with others to drink 
wine together at a bout is a very different thing 
from drinking it as occasion may justify in the 
ordinary course of life. 

The greatest danger to young men is bad com- 
pany. It is dangerous to go with bad company 



228 Howard Crosby. 

anywhere. The wine-cup is often blamed as the 
cause of ruin of young men, when it was not the 
wine-cup at all, but the wicked company which led 
the youth into drunkenness and many other vices. 
My appeal to young men to abstain from distilled 
liquors, and to avoid treating and tippling of any 
kind, is not on the ground of total abstinence 
being a scriptural duty — they know better than 
that — but on the ground that drunkenness is a 
crime against God and man, and they are bound, 
in whatever way their conscientious judgment dic- 
tates, to guard themselves against it. 

Act as in the presence of God. In a few days 
we shall stand before Him in judgment. We are 
responsible for our use or abuse of God's gifts ; 
we are moreover our brother's keeper. God has 
given us His holy word as our one guide, by which 
we can rightly discharge these responsibilities. 
Let us, in distrust of our own schemes, cling to 
that word and live faithfully according to its teach- 
ings. 

* Let us, above all, find our refuge in Him, who 
is in that word made known to us as the only en- 
during shelter from sin. Fully, faithfully, forever 
in Christ, we shall be taught by His spirit in all the 
relative duties of our earthly life, and whether we 



The Preacher and Citizen. 229 

eat or drink or whatever we do, we shall do all to 
the glory of Him who is our salvation. 



THE BIBLE ON THE SIDE OF SCIENCE. 



A LECTURE 

DELIVERED IN NEW YORK, DECEMBER 14, 1874, BEFORE THE 
SOCIETY FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE AND ART, 



HOWARD CROSBY, D.D., LL.D., 

CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. 



" The conflict between Religion and Science " 
and "the conflict between the Bible and Science" 
are not equivalent expressions. Religions are 
manifold, the Bible is one ; Religions are largely 
subjective, the Bible in its letter is objective. In 
its contest with Religion, as Religion has been 
represented by courts and councils, Science has 
often gained a decided victory, for she has been 



" Dr. Crosby's Lecture before the N. Y. Association of Art and 
Science has attracted more attention in this Country than any address since 
Tyndall's was delivered before the British Association." 



230 Howard Crosby. 

the advocate of truth, while Religion was the ad- 
vocate of error. Such a contest has frequently 
taken place, and in these the world was indebted 
to Science for deliverance from the bondage of 
superstition and ignorance. But between the Bible 
and Science we deny that a conflict ever existed. 
It is common to use this phraseology of antago- 
nism, but it is from a confusion of ideas to which 
I have alluded. That which has been supposed 
to be a conflict between the Bible and Science, 
when reduced to its lowest terms, is simply an at- 
tack by a few scientific men upon the Bible. 
These scientific men assault the Holy Scriptures, 
but the Scriptures make no counter-attack on 
Science. The Bible is on the side of Science. It 
is my purpose this evening to show, in a very brief 
and imperfect way I know, that the Bible is a 
scientific book, and that therefore if any scientific 
men attack the Bible, it must be from other 
motives than the love of Science. What those mo- 
tives are, perhaps the Bible itself might tell. 

1. The first fact to which I would call your at- 
tention is this, that the men mho have held the 
Bible as their guide, and who have revered it as the 
Word of God, have been the founders and foster- 
ers of modern science. The nineteenth century is 



The Preacher and Citizen. 231 

marked by brilliant discoveries in all departments 
of scientific investigation. The heavens have been 
entered by the bold yet reverential tread of Science, 
and the very glory of the sun analyzed by the spec- 
trum. The material constitution of the planets, 
the composition of comets, the orbital character 
of what the common language was wont to call 
" shooting stars," the magnetic quality of the 
aurora, the cyclic course of the winds and the law 
of progression for their circles, the formation and 
dispersion of clouds, and the causes and condi- 
tions of electric phenomena have all been, with 
more or less perfectness, explained and chartered 
out by ingenious and devoted energy of earnest 
searchers after the great truths which lie about us 
in the realm of Nature. The earth, too, has been 
pierced for its secrets, and its foundations success- 
fully examined for the history of its marvellous 
construction. The story of ancient races of plants 
and animals, man perhaps included, has been told 
us by the uncovered rocks, and the mind refuses 
to compute the long, long ages in which the work 
of earth-building was in process. The sea has 
been sounded and its varied floor made visible to 
the scientific eye, its currents, upper and lower, 
found to form one harmonious system, and its in- 



232 Howard Crosby. 

habitants studied and catalogued as if they were 
the familiar inmates of a barn-yard. Heat, light, 
and electricity have been tested until their laws, if 
not their essence, have been understood, and 
through this knowledge they have been made to 
minister to man in ways that would have been 
incredible to our fathers. As discoveries multiply, 
much more do inventions multiply, for every new 
principle may have a thousand applications, and so 
the means of settling and civilizing the whole 
earth have given our age an energy and growth 
utterly without a parallel in the history of man- 
kind. Who, before these facts, can belittle 
Science, or deny her claims to our profound re- 
spect and sincere gratitude ? Who can doubt that 
in the advancement of Science we are obeying the 
command given by our Maker to the race at the 
beginning, " Replenish the earth and subdue it." 
Is not a knowledge of the elements of which the 
material world is composed, and of their lftws, a 
necessary preliminary to that subduing of the 
whole to which we, as made in the image of God, 
are commanded? This is the very place of 
Science, and to oppose her is to rebel against God 
himself. 

But whence have proceeded these grand discov- 



The Preacher and Citizen. 233 

• 
eries and inventions of the present age ? Have 

they sprung suddenly from no antecedent? Or, 
like other human attainments, have they a history 
of inception and growth ? Have they roots in the 
past, germs which have been nursed into their 
present fruitage ? It will require no very extended 
research to see that the scientific activity of the 
modern age has proceeded from the schools that 
throughout Europe and America stud the land as 
the bright stars stud the sky. The great investi- 
gators have either been college-bred men, or they 
have used the appliances of colleges and universi- 
ties for their successful work. From the colleges 
they received the taste for exploration, the in- 
centive to it, and the knowledge how to conduct 
it. These foster-mothers have been proud of their 
children and made their fame their own property. 
And whence came the colleges and universities ? 
Who founded Prague and Vienna and Heidelberg 
and Leipsig and Tubingen and Jena and Halle 
and Gottingen and Berlin and Bonn ? Who 
founded Salamanca and Oviedo and Valladolid 
and Oxford and Cambridge and St. Andrews and 
Aberdeen ? I could add scores more of distin- 
guished names in all the countries of Europe, 
names that are very dear to science, where her 



234 Howard Crosby. 

streams have been conserved and widened and 
deepened as the centuries went on. Who, I say, 
founded these great centres of learning into which 
whatever of knowledge Greece and Arabia had 
gathered, flowed as into appropriate homes ? The 
men of the Bible founded them. They were pressed 
to such grand works just by the impulse of that 
grand old Book of God. When all the rest of 
mankind were caring either for the mere neces- 
saries of physical living or for wars of aggrandize- 
ment, Bible men were holding up the torch of 
science and striving by its light to read and under- 
stand the wonderful works of God. In the mon- 
asteries even (amid many dark and superstitious 
souls, it is true) were found the Roger Bacons, 
who were the precursors of the Newtons and 
Boerhaaves and Lavoisiers of later ages. It is 
vain to say they were persecuted. That makes 
only against their age, not against themselves or 
the Bible impetus under which they acted. The 
universities were always on the side of liberal 
study, and opposed to the restraints of supersti- 
tion; and to them, under God, Science is indebted 
for the high ground on which she stands to-day. 
If the Bible were opposed to Science, think you 
that these things could be? 



The PreacJier and Citizen. 235 

But, again, let me ask, who founded the col- 
leges of America ? Who set up these hundreds 
of schools, where the sciences are carefully taught? 
Who provided, by endowments and legacies, for 
continual instruction in every branch of scientific 
research ? Again I answer, Bible Men. W 7 ith a 
very few exceptions, Bible men did it all — men 
who honored the Bible as the source of all wisdom, 
and who, by imbibing its spirit, provided for their 
fellow-men. 

Now I ask every candid man if it is at all likely 
that the Bible can be the enemy of Science, or 
even apathetic with regard to Science, and such 
results as these appear ? Are not the few scientific 
men who are now attacking the Bible acting an 
ungracious and ungrateful part? 

2. But I now turn to another fact. It is this, 
that the very first scientific minds, marked in the 
annals of science for their discoveries, have been 
Bible men. Sound, more than merit, attracts at- 
tention. One would think by the blast that is 
being made in the world just now that all scientific 
men must necessarily be arrayed against the Bible. 
The young and inexperienced are overcome by 
the clamour, not having yet learned that an empty 
barrel makes more noise than a full one. And so 



236 Howard Crosby. 

it becomes necessary for sober-minded men to call 
attention to some facts that are awkwardly in the 
way of the misleaders. 

Newton was only one of hundreds in his day 
who, given to Science, loved and revered the 
Bible. From Newton's day to this the succession 
has been complete, not in an attenuated line, but 
in a broad stream of faithful Bible men, and the 
Science that in our time boasts of its Faraday, its 
Forbes, its Carpenter, its Hitchcock, its Dana, and 
its Torrey, certainly cannot be considered as occu- 
pying a hostile position toward the Bible. If the 
Bible is opposed to Science, how strange that these 
acute men, who know (or knew) the Bible well 
from constant study, should never perceive it, 
while it was left to others, who do not know it at 
all, to make the important discovery ! Is there not 
more boldness than Science in such a proceeding ? 

To enlarge on this point would be simply to 
quote the names of men distinguished in every de- 
partment of scientific study, who have been no 
occasional exceptions, showing some personal 
eccentricity, which could account for the reverence 
for the Bible, but were in the ordinary use of their 
natural reason, and never suspected by their fel- 
lows of any inconsistency in upholding with equal 



The Preacher and Citizen. 237 

hands the claims of Science and the truths of the 
Holy Scriptures. They were men who had felt 
the power of the Scriptures in the inner life of the 
heart, had received the impress of their truth in 
a region where faith is assurance, had seen the 
God of Truth in the glory of his oracles, and were 
ready to say with the late President of Amherst 
College, himself a scientific man of no mean rank, 
" If the supposed results of scientific discovery 
should be found to be antagonistic to the Bible, I 
should cleave to the Bible and suspect the results." 
This deep, inward, experimental knowledge hin- 
dered not their course of exploration in the realm 
of external Nature, but rather gave it a divine sanc- 
tion and zeal. To such men the a priori argument 
(which to others would, of course, be of no value) 
would have full weight, that the God of Truth 
could not err in his teachings regarding Nature, 
while conveying to man the more important teach- 
ings concerning grace. If God declared a way of 
salvation and a cosmogony, the cosmogony would 
be as true as the way of salvation, however the 
two might differ in their relative importance to the 
individual man and his destiny. If there is an error 
in the cosmogony, the way of salvation may be 
rightfully discredited, whether wilfulness or ignor- 



2*8 



Howard Crosby. 



ance be the cause of the error. A man micfht be 
:d as making a mistake in his physics and 
yet being true in his moral philosophy, but a God 
never. If he err anywhere, he is no God. 

I say this course of argument is of weight with 
those who have proved the Bible by its divine 
heart-touch. Others would deny that God had 
anything to do with the cosmogony of the Bible ; 
but the Bible heart takes the Bible testimony 
concerning Moses and all who wrote the books of 
the Old Testament, that holy men of God spake 
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. The 
Bible, that they revere and love, has this endorse- 
ment by God himself, naoa ypa<pr bEomeiGro: (all 
Scripture is God-inspired), and they have no 
eclecticism to use with regard to its entiretv. 
Where no didactic statement is made, they can 
expect to see phenomenal language used by God 
and by his inspired prophets, the language which 
all understand, the language which scientific men 
themselves use in their ordinary speech, in using 
which no one for a moment suspects the user of 
ignorance or founds an argument thereon against 
his scientific character. But when the inspired 
writer teaches a cosmoo-onv or asserts an historical 
fact, involving scientific elements, where the phe- 



The Preacher and Citizen. 239 

nomenal language would be falsehood, the Bible 
men of science except the statement as the truth 
of God. Even in these, phenomenal language 
may be used for the filling up (as in a scientific 
treatise prepared for the popular understanding), 
but the main framework of the teaching must be 
strictly exact. No man would accuse a Leverrier 
of scientific ignorance who should use in his 
almanac (provided he published one) the phrases 
" the sun rises " and " the sun sets," or who should 
say, "when the sun reaches its most northerly 
point," although, scientifically viewed, these ex- 
pressions are absurd. Just as childish is it to 
accuse the Bible of scientific ignorance, because it 
states that the sun and the moon stood still, or, in 
its ordinary dialogue, poetry or history uses the 
popular and unscientific language of the day. 

3. A third fact in my proof that the Bible is a 
scientific book is its express allusion, by bold state- 
ment, to facts of science which have only lately 
become known to scientific men. A careful exami- 
nation of the Holy Scriptures will convince any 
candid searcher that the God of Nature is speak- 
ing in the words of grace, that He who made each 
atom of matter and each joint in causation is the 
direct inspirer of a phraseolgy that had no support 



240 Howard Crosby. 

in the general knowledge of the day, nor in the 
special knowledge of philosophers, but that has 
been confirmed by the discoveries made thousands 
of years afterwards by the investigators of Nature 
and her laws. Let me enumerate a few instances. 

In the book of Ecclesiastes we have the return of 
water by evaporation from the sea to the springs 
expressly stated : " All the rivers run into the sea, 
yet the sea is not full ; unto the place from whence 
the rivers come, thither they return again." No 
human being in that age was qualified to tell the 
writer of Ecclesiastes that scientific fact. How 
did the writer hit on such a record ? Was it a 
happy accident ? or did the God of Nature guide 
his thoughts and pen ? 

In the 139th Psalm we read, " My substance 
was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, 
and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the 
earth" (b'tachtiyyoth aretz — in the under parts of 
the earth). What man in David's day would have 
dared trace the elements of our bodies beyond the 
parental source ? Who then on earth had so 
studied the chemistry of life as to find in the up- 
turned strata of the earth, the rocks and coals 
upheaved from their original bed the molecular 
fountains of the human body. It was for science 



The Preacher and Citizen. 241 

but lately to show the world how all the elements of 
Nature flow in and out of organisms, and so how 
every atom now existing in my body may once 
have been in plants and earths and rocks and sea, 
and from these have been carried into the stream 
of organization. And yet here in this grand old 
psalm of David, written three thousand years ago, 
this great truth of science is expressly uttered, and 
the parts of our bodies shown, when they were in 
the soil and its contents, before they took their 
position in human generation, and when God in 
inorganic nature was guiding them all through 
their intricate paths to their destination. 

In the Second Epistle of Peter we have the up- 
rising of continents from below the surface of 
the sea told us in the clearest words, a great truth 
which is supposed by many to have appeared but 
now among men, and that as the result of scien- 
tific researches. When we hear modern science 
glowingly describe the old liquid aequor, and then 
the Andes rising gradually above it, and then the 
Alps and Himalaya in their proper order, we are 
charmed with the picture and are ready to crown 
with laurels the earnest men who have wrought 
out this primeval history by patient investigation 
and comparison. And this is well ; all honor to 



242 Howard Crosby. 

these faithful and successful students of God's 
grand universe, who have used their observation 
and logic, as God intended them to be used, for 
the enlargement of knowledge, the advancement of 
mankind and the glory of the Maker. But while 
we gratefully place these laurels on their heads, let 
us not forget to go back eighteen centuries and 
hear a fisherman of Galilee, taught by the God 
who made the earth, use this language, not under- 
stood when he uttered it, perhaps even by himself, 
but now made clear by the labors of Science : '* By 
the word of God the heavens were of old, and the 
earth standing out of the water and through the 
water" (yyj §£ vSarog xal 81 s vhazog avveardcia) — 
literally, " the earth out of the water and through 
the water in the process of getting its consistency." 
Because the phrase " foundations of the earth" 
is frequently used in the Scriptures, it is loosely 
charged upon the Bible that it recognizes the old 
fanciful idea of a stable, immovable earth, solidly 
founded on indefinitely deep foundations, in direct 
antagonism to the fact of its being upheld in 
space. But this charge utterly fails when we see 
that the Bible expressly declares of the Maker of 
all," He hangeththe earth upon nothing" (Job xxvi. 
7), which is the exact translation of the Hebrew 



The Preacher and Citizen. 243 

"Toleh eretz 'al b'limah," so that the Bible 
phraseology of the earth's foundations is just what 
would be used in any poetry, though the poet were 
the most scientific astronomer. In this statement 
of Job we have another of the numerous evidences 
of a scientific knowledge finding utterance in the 
Holy Word, which was so far beyond the knowl- 
edge of the day that it could only come from Him 
who was the author of nature. 

It has been beautifully shown us by the late dis- 
coveries of science that there are asteroidal bodies 
innumerable pursuing their orbits around our sun, 
through whose path the earth at times passes, 
when some of these bodies come within the influ- 
ence of the earth's attraction, and are broken by 
contact with the earth's atmosphere and are thus 
precipitated to the earth's surface in stones of larger 
or smaller size. They are really stars visiting our 
earth. But did you ever think that the Bible re- 
corded this fact more than thirty centuries ago ? 
When Deborah, the prophetess of God, sang her 
magnificent paean of victory over the vast hosts of 
Jabin and his general, Sisera, she singles out one 
feature of the Divine interference in routing the 
foe, akin to that which sent the hailstones upon 
the flying army of southern Canaan in Joshua's 



244 Howard Crosby. 

day. She sings in her gratitude to God. " The 
stars in their courses fought against Sisera." Why 
attribute to a silly astrological superstition what is 
perfectly explicable on scientific grounds ? God 
made the aerolites to serve his own purpose, 
and he who directs all the conjunctions of nature 
used the asteroidal phenomena, to which we 
have referred, in the guardianship of his own 
people. 

It has been common to say that scripture makes 
a mistake in speaking of the ant as storing up its 
food, that in reality it only stores up its eggs ; but 
Colonel Sykes discovered at Poonah a species 
of ants (Atta Providens), which regularly stores 
up the seeds of millet for its food in stormy 
weather. The objectors did not know enough when 
they corrected the science of Scripture. They have 
been equally premature when they have objected 
to the Scripture statement regarding the ostrich 
abandoning its eggs, for late researches have 
proved that the ostrich quits her eggs during the 
day, and abandons them altogether if there has 
been any intrusion upon them, thus furnishing an 
admirable type of carelessness regarding offspring. 

These instances of the scientific accuracy of the 
Bible might be indefinitely multiplied, but I shall 



The Preacher and Citizen. 245 

content myself in the narrow limits of a lecture to 
the mention of but one further example. 

It is a favorite theory with many that the egg 
was before the animal, and the seed before the 
plant ; but this is not a truly scientific view of 
the matter. We plant an acorn, and, it is true 
there grows up from this seed the branching oak 
with its mighty limbs and rich foliage. But 
whence came those limbs and that foliage ? From 
the seed ? Certainly not. The oak was never in 
the acorn. There was a vital principle in the 
acorn, by whose action under certain requisite con- 
ditions the materials from surrounding nature 
were drawn to it, united and assimilated so as to 
make the oak. The oak, we know, was never in 
the acorn. Could that great bulk have been in 
the little seed ? When that acorn was planted, the 
future oak was lying all around in the other vege- 
table matter of the earth. Now, then, if the an- 
alogy of growth, as we see it, requires' not only 
the seed, but a surrounding field of material for 
that seed to use, how could an original seed have 
effected anything when there was no surrounding 
vegetation ? The oak must have been before the 
seed, the animal before the egg. If we are going 
back to originals, it is in this way we must solve the 



246 Howard Crosby. 

problem. And now what does the first chapter of 
Genesis say ? " And the earth brought forth the 
herb yielding seed (not the seed yielding herb), 
and the tree whose seed is in itself (not the seed 
whose tree is in itself)." What mere human mind 
would ever have thought of putting it in this way ? 
And yet this is the only way in which a true science 
can settle the question between the seed and the 
tree. 

4. And this brings me to my fourth fact regard- 
ing the scientific character of the Bible, that it 
supplies the links in the scientific chain which our 
experimental science would ever fail to reach. The 
analysis of matter, to a very wonderful degree of 
minuteness, through the use of the microscope, 
spectrum, and chemical appliance, and also the 
connection of some of the lower phenomena of 
causation, through which old arts are enriched and 
new arts created, form the wide and yet limited 
field of human research and discovery. Experi- 
mental science always finds itself at last on the 
border of the great unknown. Conjecture may go 
further, but science has nothing to do with conjec- 
ture. Our atomic theories, and evolution theories, 
that have thrown up such a dust of late, have all 
their standing in the realm of conjecture, where 



The Preacher and Citizen. 247 

true science never presumes to tread. They are as 
utterly foreign to science as the South Sea Bubble 
was to legitimate business. It is one of the strange 
facts of the day that theories which are as 
phantom-like as those of the Vortices or Simms' 
Hole, have stalked through our civilized world 
these few years past, gaining cVedence and homage 
among the crowd, because of the robes of science 
which some clever wags have adroitly thrown 
around their shoulders. The people have a pro- 
found and righteous regard for Science, and are 
very ready to receive all that bears her honored 
endorsement, and to such an extent are they loyal, 
that when some old and decrepit theories, that 
have not a grain of science in them, but belong to 
another department of thought altogether, come 
with the name of Science daubed upon their 
brows, the unsuspicious public yield them an 
honest reverence. Eperimental Science, as I said, 
always finds itself at last on the border of the great 
unknown. Whatever is to be known beyond this 
border cannot be derived from human experiment, 
for the workings are in a sphere where no human 
sense has play. And conjecture is only a slight 
veil for disappointment, and brings no satisfaction 
to the mind. What then ? Are we to know noth- 



248 Howai'd Crosby. 

ing beyond? Is experimental science the all of- 
science? Has she no other expounders than 
human observation ? Can no one tell us what we 
cannot tell ourselves ? Is there no friend in all 
this vast universe to help us out of our ignorance ? 
Why cannot some higher intelligence whisper into 
our ears the secrets that lie beyond our own sense- 
perception ? There must be something above us. 
Why does it not give us light ? Now, in answer 
to such natural queries and querimonies stands the 
Bible, the Book of God. For thousands of years 
it has been the bright lamp to the feet of millions 
of our race. It has carried in its rays the testi- 
mony of its divine character, enlightening the 
eyes, converting the soul, renewing the life. No 
such strong evidence for any fact cognizable to 
man can be gathered as the evidence for the Divine 
authorship of the Bible. All modern civilization 
rests on the Bible. All the discoveries and appli- 
ances of aft and philanthrophy for the elevation 
and well-being of mankind, which make modern 
civilization so contrasted with the pseudo-civiliza- 
tion of Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt, sprang from 
the Bible. Wherever the Bible goes, there are 
established law and order, the rights of men, and 
the influences of human sympathy. And when it 



The Preacher and Citizen. 249 

comes to ' the individual heart, there spring up 
personal peace and joy, a holy satisfaction before 
God, and desires after purity and truth. Myriads 
of witnesses point to the Bible and say, " Thence 
came our new life." Now this overwhelming 
testimony cannot be brushed away by a contempt- 
uous sweep of the arm. A scientific mind must 
regard all facts and admit all honest testimony. 
And it is this Bible, thus evidenced from without 
and from within, that completes our science by 
revealing from a higher intelligence those upper 
links in the chain of causation that human experi- 
ment never could reach. It controverts nothing 
that we have discovered, but it complements our 
discoveries with a Divine revelation. It shows the 
beginning of causation in the Divine purposes of 
grace, and allows no breach between the Creator 
and His creation. By such splendid imagery as 
we now quote, it conveys to our minds the grand 
truth of God's superintendence of all the move- 
ments of this commingled nature : " He holdeth 
the winds in His fists ; He ruleth the raging of the 
sea; He rideth upon the heavens ; He flieth upon 
the wings of the storm ; He measureth the waters 
in the hollow of His hand, and meteth out heaven 
with a span, and comprehendeth the dust of the 



250 Howard Crosby. 

earth in a measure, and weigheth the mountains 
in scales ; He drieth up the sea, and maketh the 
rivers a wilderness." In this way the Scriptures 
refer all the changes which our experimental 
science correctly classifies, and whose proximate 
conditions it carefully notes, to the ever watchful 
providence and intelligent guidance of the Su- 
preme Maker of all. The grandest movements of 
nature and the smallest events in its history are 
alike decided by his presence and power. He 
establishes the stars in their paths, and not a spar- 
row falls to the ground without Him. 

Besides this governing and guiding presence, 
the Bible reveals another link in the chain of ma- 
terial causation. It shows back of the power 
the Divine heart of grace. It declares that 
all things work together for good to them that love 
God. It thus puts a soul and an emotion in all 
this varied interlacing of material phenomena, God 
the Almighty Creator and his infinite love. Na- 
ture is no more a fragment. It is complete. It is 
no more a blind fatality, but a designed adapta- 
tion in its every joint. It is no more a cold corpse, 
but all alive with the pulsations of the heart of 
God. 

And is not this revealed truth concerning nature 



The Preacher and Citizen. 251 

far more important to us than all else which our 
experimental science can elicit ? Does it not fur- 
nish rest both for mind and heart where experi- 
mental science would utterly fail ? Does it not 
satisfy the cravings of our souls, which cravings 
were made to expect this very revelation from our 
God ? And is not our real triumph over nature 
gained when we can look around on all its grand- 
est and most awful features, and say in calmness, 
" My Father made them all — his hand upholds 
and guides them all ?" 

Such/ then, is my fourth and last fact regarding 
the scientific character of the Bible, that it sup- 
plies the links in the scientific chain which our ex- 
perimental science would ever fail to reach. 

I leave the subject, with the confident expres- 
sion that our experimental examination of Nature's 
attractive field will always be best performed by 
the devout mind that recognizes God and His 
Word in the investigation. The mind that is in 
harmony with the grand whole of creation, from 
the Creator's hand down to the last combination 
of his works, will be guarded against extrava- 
gance in the use of false inductions, and will find a 
principle of symmetry where else were arbitrary 
law or wanton movement. To eliminate God 



: : : rz -.. .: v:' _ ■>■::':■% . 

from His creation, and keep from view the power 
that formed in the action of His formations, is to 
accept a position at war with fundamental reason, 
which cordially echoes the words of Scripture : 

H t :'/.;■ : . :h~ r shih r :: he heir ; h: 

that formed the eye, shall not he see ? " 

Tier, his Siieme he: iiir-s: isie::. vrhen in 
the light of God's revelation she performs her high 
task as an act ::' vorship to Him, and lifts her eye 
iew discovery in Nature's cunning 
:hanism, devoutly saying : * In wisdom Thou 
: in lit : - ih. 



11UM1 C\ CJ 



_ J ■ - » » . i _00 



^ 



_ ':- --'. A 7 I 7 : r Z Y 



jxdlixess is the one word that comprehends 
all evils. It destroys religion by striking at its 
very foundation. History shows this in the 
churches of Asia Minor, in the work of Papacy in 
later ages, and in the effects of the union of Church 
State in recent The evils of the 



. The Preacher and Citizen. 253 

church enter through the sins of the individual. It 
is there that we must attack them. The individual 
Christian must not take the world for his guide. 
This rule is negative in form ; but the necessity for 
it is most positive. Christians excuse themselves 
by saying "We must live." In politics they 
vote iox a bad man, because he belongs to their 
party ; after praying for God's blessing on the 
land, they do all they can to bring down His curse 
upon it. In society they are afraid to isolate 
themselves from fashion. They train up their chil- 
ren nominally for heaven, but really for the world. 
They are so fettered and absorbed by business 
that they turn their backs on the Divine life. They 
need to make the Bible a mere constant study and 
rule of life ; and then they need to engage actively 
in direct, positive and personal Christian work. 
Activity saves from decay ; aggressiveness wins 
the victory. 



254 Howard Crosby. 

Pulpit Sketches, 



DR. HOWARD CROSBY OF THE FOURTH AVENUE 
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



This society was organized in 1825, with the 
Rev. Matthias Bruen for its first pastor ; worship- 
ping first in a school-house at Broadway and 
Bleecker Street, and afterward in its new church in 
Bleecker Street on the site now occupied by the 
Bank for Savings. Dr. Erskine Mason was the 
next pastor, and filled a thrifty ministry of twenty 
years. He was succeeded by Dr. Joel Parker, 
during whose pastorate, in 1852, the society erect- 
ed and occupied the present church at Fourth 
Avenue and Twenty-second Street. In 1863 Dr. 
Crosby was called to the vacant pulpit, and is 
therefore to-day one of the oldest ministers in the 
city in term of service, his official relations with 
his church having exceeded twenty years. The 
church is built of a durable brown sandstone. The 
outlines and features are in the barest, undecorated 
Gothic. It occupies the northwest corner, front- 
ing on the avenue, and is flanked on the north side 
by the Sunday-school, and lecture rooms, thus 



The Preacher and Citizen. 255 

imparting an ungraceful breadth to the facade 
which is hardly corrected by the low, square towers 
rising with seeming reluctance on either side the 
main entrance. The interior, compared with later 
constructions, seems austerely plain. Decoration 
has been used with a spare hand, and with little 
traces of churchly sestheticism. There is not a 
symbol or embellishment bearing a distinctly 
religious significance anywhere visible. But for 
the font at the foot of the platform and the large 
Bible on the pulpit desk the legitimate use of the 
building might possibly remain a matter of conjec- 
ture. Roomy galleries fill three sides, one of which, 
over the entrance, serves as choir and organ 
gallery. There are no fascinations or allurements 
of the arts here to trap the senses and kindle the 
imagination. The singing led by an unpretentious 
quartette, is almost rudimental in its simplicity, 
and the large congregation join in the plain 
psalmody with considerable fervor. 

FULL OF THE SOLEMNITY OF HIS MISSION. 

Dr. Crosby is an old time parson — not a litera- 
teur masquerading in canonicals. Like an ambas- 
sador " sent," bearing high commission in the 



256 Howard Crosby. 

spiritual kingdom, something like a halo of knight- 
ly consecration is felt if not seen round about him. 
There is the hush and awe of a great solemnity 
welling from within, so that when he stands up to 
speak we think not of the orator, or polemic, or 
scholar, or great civilian, but mostly of the man of 
God. come on his Master's business. The voice is 
deep, with a clinging, ready edge which seizes and 
holds the ear. The words move in mellifluous, 
orderly deliberate rhythm as if the respiration and 
heart-beat were sound and rich with life. His elo- 
cution is unconsciously complete and tinctured with 
life-long refinement and the unmistakable irides- 
cence of a delicate, various culture. You say, the 
man. of elegance, the man of affairs, the man of 
steady deep thought, but above all, the man of 
spiritual integrity and whole-heartedness. He 
handles the Bible only as a Christian scholar comes 
to finger such a book — with a familiar, caressing 
reverence. It is a rare treat to hear him read a 
chapter, as from the Book of the Acts of the 
Apostles — to catch his clearly cut, brief sententious 
comment, flashing light and intelligence all the 
way along ; now a sudden disclosure of hidden 
beauty or wealth of meaning in a weakly translated 
word ; now a touch of archaeologic or antiquarian 



The Preacher and Citizen. 257 

wisdom which helps you to a vignette ; again, such 
*a pregnant allusion or illustration from the Greek 
classics as only comes of consummate scholarship ; 
or in the Old Testament, an uncovering and quiet 
explication of Hebrew roots, metaphors, analysis 
and interlacing threads of significance, until the 
old text Starts up through the mould and dead 
leafage of Hebrew, Greek and Latin, into the ver- 
nacular — crisp, fresh, fragrant. 

With all this there is a touching simplicity, as if 
half deprecating any flavor of pedantry, or mere 
erudition. It is not strange that Bible readers in 
almost every pew find the chapter and hang on 
every word ; for such words are, as it were, 
raised from the dead and quickened once more 
into life. A liturgic feeling here and there crops 
out. The Doctor reads the Decalogue, and the 
choir at the close chant a simple Kyrie Eleison. 
Then one of the Psalms is read responsively, but 
no Creed is recited, although there is a very good 
one, commonly called the Apostles', to be found 
in the Westminster Catechism. 

A PREACHER THOROUGHLY IN EARNEST. 

The sermon is simple in construction, transpar- 
ent, unmistakable in purpose, and exceedingly 



258 Howard Crosby. 

forcible, and put with a close, urgent logic impa- 
tient of resistance or trifling, and an indifference 
to academic elegance or rhetorical graces. Such 
sermons are not produced with an eye to effective- 
ness. It is questionable whether, in print, they 
would distinguish the author among his brilliant 
contemporaries. There is no glamor of a master- 
ly philosophy, no speculative by-play — no side- 
shows of picturesque, richly elaborated flights of 
oratory or eloquence ; never a trace of sensational- 
ism ; and, clearly, the preacher is oblivious to 
" w T eep here," and other technical memoranda, in 
getting up his manuscript. It is written extem- 
pore in the spirit of immediate necessity or crisis. 
So the preacher dashes across the corners, reduces 
his idioms almost to bluntness — but he is never 
rude, never gets beyond range of a certain brawny 
Doric grandeur or dignity of expression. He is 
penetrated with the traditions of his church, is 
resolutely and stoutly conservative in his theology ; 
but it is hard to catch and identify his theology 
from the realistic, concrete, palpitating body of 
his discourse — for he proceeds rather after the 
order of synthesis— builds up, models, embodies 
all the while— has, in short, little taste or fancy for 
analysis and the desiccating processes of criticism. 



The Preacher and Citizen. 259 

There is nothing speculative, ideal, or merely phil- 
osophical in his conception of life and its depth of 
loss and gain. He has no pet formulas, no pre- 
scriptions of infallible theories among his curatives. 
There is something inexorable, almost intolerent, 
in his dealings with sins and sinners. He puts no 
faith in rose-water expedients ; is stern, uncom- 
promising, pitiless toward shame and hypocrisies 
in the Church as well as out of it. A man who 
palters with his conscience in a double sense must 
find this particular church a veritable " little ease." 
But it is a healthy, winnowing, invigorating blast 
that falls from his lips, and honest, well-ordered, 
brave living should come of it. Approach him as 
closely as you find opportunity in church or else- 
where, and you will experience no mortifying dis- 
illusions. It is always the same man and person- 
ality, without trick, disguise or any such thing. 

HIS WARFARE OUTSIDE THE PULPIT. 

There is one characteristic of commanding im- 
portance in attempting the portraiture of Dr. 
Crosby. It is this. In preaching, his sermon is 
only half done. Where other men fold up their 
manuscripts as an artisan hangs up his tools, Dr. 



260 Howard Crosby. 

Crosby moves directly on, charging the next line 
of rifle pits or breastworks of the enemy. For 
Dr. Crosby's Lord is literally a Man of War. So 
he burns under the righteous indignation of sol- 
diership, and he carries a sword with a keen edge 
and smites like Joshua of old, or the Covenanters, 
or the Roundheads, against the " man of sin" 
wherever he encounters him. Words are the 
threshold of his living sermon ; for he grapples 
face to face with evil doers and evil livers, and 
complements his preaching with his valorous, per- 
sistent conflict with social evils and perils. And 
this desperate spirit of conquest gives initial velo- 
city and penetrative force to his sayings. So, to 
preach against the world, the flesh and the devil, 
is, in Dr. Crosby's conception, to fight manfully 
against them in person. And no man has fought 
with finer, firmer enthusiasm. With a dozen such 
pastors — and what city ever yet held a dozen such 
at once? — even New York might experience a 
moral and social purification and rectification as 
yet undreamed of by the boldest optimist. 

In 1877 he organized the Society for the Pre- 
vention of Crime, for the trial and punishment of 
illicit traffic in strong drink, for the suppression of 
licentious theatres and vile concert saloons, reek- 



The Preacher and Citizen. 261 

ing with drunkenness and debauchery, for the vin- 
dication and moral reinforcement of municipal leg- 
islation, and for the purification of the criminal 
courts. There has been a costly unrelenting strug- 
gle ever since, and notwithstanding the connivance 
of officials in high as well as low places, multitudes 
of shameful resorts have been destroyed, lascivious 
exhibitions and saloons shut up, and for nine days 
the dram shops and drinking saloons of the city 
were absolutely impenetrable and not a glass of 
spirits was had save at the bars of licensed hotels. 
To be sure the deadlock was broken by an unscru- 
pulous Excise Commission which licensed in a 
twinkling thousands of " hotels" from sixteen feet 
by three on the sidewalk up to the flaunting gin 
palace ; but, nevertheless, the society has suc- 
ceeded in locking up at least the front door of 
every dram shop in the city on Sundays, closing 
them as effectually as the existing statutes permit. 
This is the sequel of Dr. Crosby's sermonizing ; 
a species of "practical application" and "lastly" 
not set down in any manual of homiletics. Strange 
conclaves have been held in this parlor, where he 
has faced the man-sharks of hellish traffic in the 
bodies and souls of men and women. No man in 
the city is better known in this pernicious under- 



262 Howard Crosby. 

world — nor more keenly dreaded ; and yet, strange 
to say, he is pursued or impelled by no personal, 
vindictive animosities— lives in peace, tranquil and 
without fear. For there is a deep gentleness of 
love and humanity, which even the vilest cannot 
mistake, in the Doctor's procedure and language. 
He would cut out the ulcer to save lives and souls. 
That is the sum and philosophy of his preaching. 



Separate from the World, 



DR. CROSBY'S WARNING TO CHRISTIANS. 



NO ALLIANCE TO BE FORMED WITH THE UNGODLY — PERILS 
OF A FASHIONABLE LIFE. 



In the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church 
yesterday morning the Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby 
preached upon the dangers to which Christians are 
exposed when they form alliances with ungodly 
people. His sermon was based upon these words 
in II. Chronicles xix. : 1, 2 : "And Jehoshaphat, 
the King of Judah, returned to his house in peace 



The Preacher and Citizen. 263 

to Jerusalem. And Jehu, the son of Hanani, the 
seer, went out to meet him, and said to King 
Jehoshaphat : ' Shouldest thou help the ungodly, 
and love them that hate the Lord ? Therefore is 
wrath upon thee from before the Lord.'" After 
showing how Jehoshaphat, who was a good man, 
was punished by the Lord because he went astray 
and formed wicked alliances with King Ahab, Dr. 
Crosby said in part : 

" Many would have a God without wrath. They 
think that wrath does not become God, and they 
think so because they associate with wrath all the 
human imperfections with which man accompanies 
his wrath. They imagine selfishness and envy and 
malice and spite, when God's wrath has none of 
these elements, but is pure and holy and a part of 
His goodness and truth. The events of life are 
part of God's training of His children, and much 
of this training is disciplinary and corrective, while 
some of it is directly the action of the Divine 
wrath. 

" Let us examine wherein good Jehoshaphat 
provoked the Divine wrath, and apply the lesson 
to our own lives. First— He helped the ungodly. 
Jehoshaphat doubtless had admirable political 
reasons for his conduct. He also had admirable 



264 Howard Crosby. 

social reasons. There are always admirable rea- 
sons for doing wrong. But all his alliance with 
Ahab was in God's sight 'the helping the ungodly.' 
Now turn the glass from Jehoshaphat to ourselves. 
God's government is the same now that it was in 
his time. If we help the ungodly as we may do 
we shall have our Heavenly Father's wrath upon 
us. 

" We help the ungodly when we put them into 
public office. We may plead party allegiance or 
any other excuse, but if we give our votes for 
wicked men, we are directly helping the ungodly. 
We are doing what we can to put them into posi- 
tions of power and influence, and are thus contend- 
ing against the Lord and the spreading of his 
truth and righteousness. We cannot do this, and 
then suppose we shall be lost sight of in the 
crowd. The Lord sees one soul as if it were the 
only soul in the universe. You have helped the 
ungodly — you must suffer for it. 

" Again, we help the ungodly when we join with 
them in crooked money transactions. We may 
have cunning enough to keep out of the clutches 
of human law, but we cannot deceive God. We 
are on a Board of Directors. The company com- 
mits a crime ; it waters stock fraudulently; it makes 



The Preacher and Citizen. 265 

a lying statement of its condition, or it makes a 
corrupt bargain with another company. We do 
not vote for either of these things, but we sit by 
and let the matter be carried without a protest. 
More than that, we are secretly glad that it is 
carried, and we share the profits of the iniquitous 
transaction equally with those directors who voted 
for it. We have gone down deep to help the 
ungodly ; we shall not escape God's wrath. 

" Still another way of helping the ungodly is 
in entering into their social style of life, by which 
time is wasted in selfish display and the golden 
opportunities to learn Divine things and do good 
are lost. Eager to get into rich and gay and fash- 
ionable circles, Christians give up all their holy 
advantages and are tickled by being associated 
with the godless idlers whose whole idea of life is 
that of empty amusement. A box at the opera, a 
drag or a dog-cart in the Central Park, or a fash- 
ionable ball is sought by the Christian just as Je- 
hosaphat sought an alliance with the gay and fash- 
ionable of Ahab's court. 

" There is a great deal of degredation of the 
Christian life going on in this city. It is nothing 
but gross defilement. I am sorry to believe that 
Christian women lead the way in this folly, but 



266 Howard Crosby. 

they find men ready enough to follow. Where is 
Christ our Saviour in all this? Where is our 
sense of Divine things ? Where is our aspiration 
for them ? Where is our love to do good ? Where 
is our zeal to evangelize the world ? It is an im- 
possible thing for a Christian man or woman to 
enter into the fashionable life of this city without 
losing all the earnestness of the Christian life and 
marring the taste for Divine truth. That fashion- 
able life is wholly alien from God. It is a system 
which wastes time and talents on trifles light as 
air. It dries up its sympathies and checks its help- 
fulness to the needy and to those that are desti- 
tute of the Gospel. They will lavish tens of 
thousands on palaces and yachts and other such 
perishable flummery. What business has a Chris- 
tian with such a worthless crowd ? Is one who 
has Christ Jesus for a friend to go and seek the 
friendship of these insipid nothings, who never had 
a serious idea in their heads and whose hearts are 
set upon vanity ? 

" Secondly — Jehoshaphat provoked the Lord's 
wrath not only by helping the ungodly, but by lov- 
ing those that hated the Lord. It was not a self- 
denial, it was not a compulsion from without, but 
Jehoshaphat really loved those wretched princes 



The Preacher and Citizen. 267 

and princesses at Samaria. And that is the trouble 
with our Jehoshaphats to-day. They associate with 
evil men and women because they love them, and 
if you chide them as making an unequal yoking, 
such as the Holy Spirit through the apostle con- 
demns, they grow quite indignant and accuse you 
of a want of charity, and they begin to praise the 
noble character of the ungodly. There is nothing 
more melancholy than the decline of Christian 
thought and feeling and life under the influence 
of worldly alliances. The pleas of necessity are 
all false. It is always a deliberate act. It is love 
for those that hate God that is the motor. 

" Whether in politics, society or business, the 
Christian who allies himself with the ungodly, does 
so because he loves them. He forgets his first 
love for Jesus, and substitutes for it a love for 
those who have no regard whatsoever for Jesus. 
The baseness of the act is equalled only by its 
utter vanity. It leads to nothing. It brings no 
gain to the traitor. It adds nothing to his happi- 
ness. It only adds to his load of remorse. The 
converted man who is trying to get his happiness 
out of the world is a pitiable object — he is pouring 
water through a sieve. He tries very hard and 
gets nothing for his pains. The Lord is against 



268 Howard Crosby, 

him and will trip him up for his soul's good. The 
wrath of the Lord is upon him. 

" Do not think, my fellow Christian, that our 
Lord is unmindful of us, His children. He is not 
going to let us go into folly without rebuking us. 
He watches every movement of our lives. Our 
worldliness will receive His stripes, the few stripes 
or the many stripes, exactly as He sees we need 
them. The storm will come and rage over us, and 
we shall be distracted until we see Christ in the 
storm and seek from Him in penitent faith the 
command to the raging elements : ' Peace, be still ! ' 
Isn't it better to find our all of joy in Christ our 
Saviour? Isn't it better to dwell on our mount of 
privilege with Jesus and leave the vain world to 
busy itself with its fashions and follies without our 
help ? The happy Christian life is that which 
makes no compromises with the world and has no 
drawing to its vanities, but which, by a true faith 
in Christ, obtains the wonderful riches of His 
grace as its portion every day. 



The Preacher and Citizen. 269 

THE NATIONAL PRESBYTERIAN. 



Rev. Charles F. Beach, Editor. 



The late Dr. Howard Crosby was not regarded, 
even by people of very liberal principles, as a 
narrow or bigoted man. He was in a position to 
learn much of the world, and his eyes were open 
to current events. His opinion, then, in regard to 
the character and tendencies of the piety of the 
church of the present day is entitled to very 
respectful consideration. But his view was by no 
means optimistic. He says: "The Church of 
God is to-day courting the world. Its members 
are trying to bring it down to the level of the 
ungodly. The ball, the theatre, nude and lewd 
art, social luxuries, with all their loose moralities, 
are making inroads into the sacred inclosure of the 
church ; and as a satisfaction for all this worldli- 
ness, Christians are making a great deal of Lent 
and Easter and Good Friday and church ornamen- 
tation." If this is true, — and no man of ordinary 
candor and intelligence will think of denying it, — 
the fact ought to arouse every sincere and thought- 



2 jo Howard Crosby. 

ful Christian to an earnest and persevering effort 
to stem the tide of worldliness in the church and 
to elevate the standard of spiritual life. 



THE NEW BIRTH NOT A MYSTERY. 



The Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby, of the Fourth 
Avenue Presbyterian Church, preaching on the 
text, " Except a man be born again he cannot see 
the Kingdom of God." said in part : 

The prophet Ezekiel prophesied of Judah's last 
king, Zedekiah, that he should be brought to 
Babylon and yet should not see it. In the midst 
of the magnificence of that capital, where the 
grand proportions of Belus and the vast beauties 
of the hanodna- wardens formed, in the estimate of 
later days, one of the seven wonders of the world, 
the wicked son of good Joshua dwelt insensible to 
all the grace and grandeur by which he was sur- 
rounded. The Babylonish monarch had put out 
his eyes before he dragged him a captive to the 
land of exile. So men live surrounded by the 
kingdom of God and never see it. For all the 



The Preacher and Citizen. 271 

effect its aspect has upon them, it might be the 
majesty of Babylon, the beauty of Athens, or the 
insignificant meanness of Timbuctoo. A great 
deal of what we call "belief" is the mere assent 
of the logical faculty to a probability, We do not 
believe that a thing is so, but we guess it may be 
so. What is called commonly " a mere intellect- 
ual belief in the Gospel," is of this sort. The man 
who rejects the Gospel either does not believe it, 
or believes that he has other truths of a higher 
character which modify his use of the Gospel even 
so far as its rejection. But surely nobody accepts 
this last position. The intellect and the heart are 
indissolubly united in true belief — the man is one. 
There is no visible church — only visible churches 
and one Church, the invisible, spiritual Church. 
Ritual, priesthood, sacrifices, temple, are all gone, 
gone forever, with every thing like them and any 
endeavor to bring any of them into Christianity is 
to make the man a boy again ; to shut out the 
noon and make twilight ; to disuse the cured limbs 
and go back to crutches. But how can I be born 
again ? There's the question. There's some 
great mystery here that baffles me ; there's some 
magic spring to touch ; some " open sesame" of 
which I know nothing. The more I think of it 



272 Howard Crosby. 

the more I'm puzzled and distraught. I can only 
give up in despair. That is the way in which mul- 
titudes meet the simple statement of the Saviour : 
" Ye must be born again." There is no mystery 
here at all ; no more mystery than there is in 
every fact and movement of mind and matter. 
The new birth involves a new character. Change 
of character implies change of purpose. This im- 
plies change of desire, and here we get nearer to 
the essence of the new birth. The new birth is 
the removal of the affections from low, selfish, 
earthly, depraved and evil objects to God and 
godly things. When I see the Kingdom of God 
there is no mystery at all, except the mystery of 
the man who has kept his eyes shut and now 
opens them for the first time on vale and moun- 
tain, cloud and river, flowers and sunshine. It is 
very grand and very beautiful, but not mysterious, 
The only mystery is that I kept my eyes shut so 
long when such a glory was all around me. 



The Preacher and Citizen. 273 

RADICALLY OPPOSED TO THE THEATRE. 



Editor of the Evangelist : A few years " before 
the war," Dr. Crosby preached to his young people 
on " Amusements." I think there were several 
sermons. In speaking of the theatre, he took 
unqualified ground against it as evil in all its 
influence. I ventured to write him a note, asking 
if he would not discriminate between good and 
bad plays, as between good and bad books, and 
countenance those theatres that aimed to give the 
best results of dramatic art, naming one which 
then stood high in popular esteem. His reply was 
positive and pointed. No, he would not. The 
good and evil could not be separated. The very 
theatre I named, he said, was a centre of drinking 
places and houses of ill fame. 



PROPER COMPANIONS FOR THE CHRISTIAN. 



The Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby, of the Fourth 
Avenue Presbyterian Church : There are two 
smooth lives. One is the life of those who are 



274 Howard Crosby. 

" not in trouble as other men * * * they 

have more than heart could wish." The man who 
has banished God from his mind and is well 
circumstanced in life has a smooth time of it. The 
other smooth life has a totally different aspect. It 
is the life hid with Christ in God. It is the life 
which finds its enjoyments on a higher plane than 
that of worldly society, or a plane which earthly 
disturbances cannot reach. The secret of the first 
smooth life is godlessness. The secret of the other 
is godliness. Godlessness and godliness cannot 
be mixed. Our social instincts are the strongest 
we have, and God certainly intended we should 
use them. He does not wish us to be hermits or 
monks. The intimate groupings of men reveal 
two strange facts : The group tends to become 
like the inferior members of the group, and a cour- 
age to do wrong is wrought out by the mere 
aggregation of numbers. I suppose there is no 
means used by Satan more successfully in wreck- 
ing Christians than worldly companionship. In 
the matter of life-unions by marriage Christians 
are perpetually forgetting this fundamental prin- 
ciple. The text says " I am a companion of all 
them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy 
precepts." This is the action of a brave soul, of a 



The Preacher and Citizen. 275 

wise soul, of a healthy soul, of a dignified soul. 
Make those your companions now whom you 
expect to be your companions in eternity. Live 
for your eternal future, and not for the present 
moment. Why form intimacies that shall dwarf 
your piety and fill your dying hour with remorse? 



DR. CROSBY AND THE AMERICAN SUNDAY. 



To the Editor of The Tribune. Sir : I liked 
your heading of the article in Monday's paper on 
the meeting at Dr. MacArthur's church. It was 
" The American Sunday." It is this that all true 
Americans can insist upon, the day time-honorecj 
among us for needful rest from labor (which must 
be compulsory or else it cannot be at all), and for 
the undisturbed public worship of God for those 
who wish. This is the " American Sunday." The 
"Christian Sabbath" is another thing altogether. 
That is a sacred day observed by the individual 
according to his conscience and with regard to 
which the law has nothing to do. We cannot 
urge the maintenance of the " Christian Sabbath " 



2 ~ : Howard Crosby. 

by law. This would be enforcing religion by law, 
and would be a dangerous infringement of our 
liberties. But we can and must maintain the 
( American Sunday" with its two princir.es cessa- 
of labor for the physical and moral health of 
the community and decent courtesy to the multi- 
tude who wish to worship God in peaceful assem- 
blies. They who say that the "American Sunca 
is in conflict with liberty confound it with the 
Christian Sabbath." The law for the former 
does not meddle with religion. Its restrictions 
are not against liberty but for health and decency. 
Old Sabbath Laws did meddle with religion. 
They are not to be revived. The American Sun- 
day is to be upheld on different grounds. The 
patriotism and sound sense of the community will 
never part with it at the beck of newly arrived 
foreigners who cannot discriminate between liberty 
and license. 

Yours truly. 

Hiwaij:- Cp.isiy. 
New York, October 19, 1887. 



The Preacher and Citizen. 277 

THE FOURTH AVENUE CHURCH. 



TENTH ANNIVERSARY, FEB. 7TH, 1873. 



Rev. Dr. Crosby delivered a discourse on 
Sabbath evening last, reviewing his ministry of 
ten years in the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian 
Church of this city. The record was of almost 
unexampled prosperity and progress, calling for 
gratitude and joy. In these ten years 1,104 have 
been added to the church, 527 of them on pro- 
fession of their faith ; 289 of the whole were ad- 
mitted in the four missions of the church, leaving 
815 as the number actually added to the mother 
church during the ten years ; 62 have died ; 
dismissions to other churches and deaths leave a 
net increase of 778. The present number of mem- 
bers is 1,047, °f whom 254 are in the missions ; 
101 have removed to parts unknown, leaving 692 
members actually belonging to the present church, 
making, in point of numbers, the Fourth Church 
on the roll of 4,616 churches in the General As- 
sembly. The Lafayette Avenue Church, Brook- 
lyn, is the largest ; the Madison Square in this city 



2,"$ H: :.:.:■ : /. . 

second : the Brick, in Rochesrer. is third : and 

this Fourth Avenue is :he fourth in numbers. 

Its works prove its faith and zeal. I: sustains 
four vigorous and useful missions. It is out of 
debt, and abundant in resources. All the ma- 
chinery for aggressive work upon the outlying 
mass of ignorance and vice is in effective opera- 
tion. The church members are all known to one 
another, and meet in the church parlors monthly 
for social intercourse. Perfect union exists in all 
relations, and the licrht of the Divine favor rests 
upon every branch of the vine. 

In closing the review of the ten years. Dr. Cros- 
by paid a warm ana beautiful tribute to those who 
had died in faith during his ministry, mentioning 
their names and the peculiar features of their re- 
spective characters. The discourse was heard 
with fixed attention and deep interest, and will, we 
trust, be published, as a most remarkable record of 
ministerial faithfulness and success : we think the 
most so of any Presbyterian Church in this city in 
these last ten vears. 



The Preacher and Citizen. 279 

THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER. 



The session of the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian 
Church in this city, composed of its pastor, Rev. 
Dr. Howard Crosby, and twelve elders, adopted a 
pastoral letter on the subject, and sent it to all its 
members in a circular. It presents the matter in a 
light so clear and forcible that we are constrained 
to reprint it entire, and to beg all our readers can- 
didly to peruse it and prayerfully to ask Divine 
guidance in regard to their action upon the sub- 
ject. 

New York, October 28, 1885. 

Dear Brethren in the Lord : — The Session of 
the Fourth Avenue Church (of which you are 
members) feel that a word to you of affectionate 
counsel will be both in accordance with their duty 
as spiritual officers of the church, and with your 
own Christian views and sentiments. We have 
seen with great sorrow the entrance of the Sunday 
Newspaper into Christian families, and, having 
witnessed the unhappy results of this admission, 
are desirous of warning you against the growing 
evil. 



2 So Howard Crosby. 

The Sunday newspaper not only employs a large 
number of persons for its sale upon God's holy 
day, but it furnishes secular reading to divert the 
mind from the holy themes especially appropriate 
to the Sabbath. Our young people who would not 
otherwise think of spending the day in such read- 
ing are readily led to consider it a safe and proper 
thing when they see the paper brought* into the 
family, and even purchased from the stand, by 
members of the church. 

There is no influence more insidiously seductive 
than this for the demoralization of our Christian 
households. Its air of respectability, the brief 
notice of some religious event in a corner of the 
sheet, the fact carefully proclaimed that the paper 
is not made up on Sunday, all furnish easy excuses 
to the conscience for harboring and encouraging 
that which unfits the mind for serious thought, 
which draws it away from God's word, and which 
thus nullifies all the sacred influences of the Lord's 
Day. The mind thus led becomes filled with 
thoughts on business, politics, games, theatres, and 
crimes (which form the staple of newspaper litera- 
ture), at the time when the Lord calls us especially 
to consider the things that belong to our higher 
spiritual welfare. No Christian can yield to such 



The Preacher and Citizen. 281 

an influence without deadening his piety, chilling 
his faith, and destroying his usefulness. His ex- 
ample, also, becomes most pernicious, sowing 
broadcast the seeds of worldliness and infidelity. 
The ungodly world rejoices in beholding the re- 
ligion of Christ brought down to its own level, and 
Satan will use every effort through the power of 
fashion to accomplish this end. The Sunday 
newspaper is a powerful engine to achieve this re- 
sult. To refuse it and oppose it, demands a firm, 
resolute, positive spirit, and this is too seldom 
found among professing Christians. It is so much 
easier to drift with the tide. But our Lord call us 
to a bold stand, squarely to face such assaults upon 
the godly life, and we are derelict toward him if 
we weakly and timidly yield to Satan. 

Dear Brethren of this church, we believe better 
things of you. We have seen your zeal in Christ's 
cause, and your earnest devotion to every good 
work in His narne. We know the purity of your 
faith and the ardor of your Christian love. We 
are assured, therefore, that you will receive this, 
our fraternal word of exhortation, with the spirit in 
which it is addressed to you, and, if any one of 
you has thoughtlessly encouraged the great evil 
to which we have alluded, that you will strive to 



: : : H. 

correct the error, and stamp the Sunday newspa- 
per with your earnest practical condemnation. 

We all desire the spread of God's truth through 
the community. We desire to see souls saved and 
Christians edified through the means of grace. 
We recognize God's Holy Day as prominent 
among those means, and would not have that day 
robbed of its power and meaning by the use of 
the Sunday newspaper. Let us then, with these 
desires, pray and labor faithfully to overcome this 
device of Satan against the gospel of salvation. 

Yours, in Christ, 

Howard Crosby, Pastor, 

and twelve elders. 



[From the Sew Tort; Observer.'] 

INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES, 



This reminds us of the way in which the 
lamented Howard Crosby was wont to sweep 
away the cobwebs woven by theorists that con- 
tended against the plenary inspiration of the 
Scriptures, He was wont to say in regard to all 



The Preacher and Citizen. 283 

that was put forth as to this and that kind of in- 
spiration, that there was no inspiration worthy of 
the name which did not suffice to keep the writer 
from making blunders and telling lies. Any in- 
spiration that did not do this was not worth 
arguing about on one side or the other. 



[From the "New York Tribune" 1883.] 

Twenty Years a Pastor, 



DR. CROSBY'S SUCCESSFUL WORK. 



CLERGYMEN OF ALL DENOMINATIONS IN THE FOURTH 
AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



The twentieth anniversary of the pastorate of 
the Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby was observed in the 
Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church last evening. 
The church was filled, about 2,000 people being 
present. The pulpit was apparently lost in 
flowers of nearly all denominations and in plants 
of various sects ; clusters of roses adorned the 
desk, and a pillow of white carnations, bordered 



284 Howard Crosby. 

with pink, in which were the figures " 20 " in red, 
hung in front of it. Upon the platform, almost 
concealed behind the floral decorations, sat the 
presiding officer, the Rev. Dr. S. I. Prime; the 
Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby, and those who took 
part in the anniversary service : the Rev. Drs. 
John Hall, representing the Presbyterian Church ; 
William M. Tavlor, of the Congregational Church; 
James M. King, of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church ; Wilbur F. Watkins, of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church ; William Ormiston, of the 
Reformed Church ; and R. S. MacArthur, of the 
Baptist Church. Among the other clergymen 
present were Roswell D. Hitchcock, W. M. Pax- 
ton, Henry J. Vandyke, Jr., F. H. Marling, J. F. 
Elder, E. E. Clark, Samuel X. Hamilton, E. X. 
White, Edward Hopper and J. B. Calvert, Alger- 
non S. Sullivan. Henrv Beroh and Morris K. 
Jessup were in the audience. 

The services consisted of music, prayer and 
addresses. Although the speakers " were under 
the ban" — as one of them expressed it — not to 
make allusions to Dr. Crosby, the ban was broken 
with the first address, and all the fellow-ministers 
of Dr. Crosby paid him tributes of respect and 
love as a man and cler^vman. The addresses 



The Preacher and Citizen. 285 

were interrupted at times with applause, again with 
laughter, and at the close of Dr. Hall's remarks 
many of the audience were affected to tears. 

THE EXERCISES BEGUN. 

The exercises were begun with the doxology, 
" Praise God from whom all blessings flow." This 
was followed with a Scripture reading by the Rev. 
Charles P. Fagnani, of Grace Chapel, at the close 
of which the prayer was offered by the Rev. Wil- 
liam J. McKittrick, of Hope Chapel. After the 
singing of a hymn, the Rev. Dr. Prime gave a brief 
review of the history of the Fourth Avenue Pres- 
byterian Church under the pastorate of Dr. Cros- 
by. The church itself, he said was fifty-eight 
years old. When Dr. Crosby became its pastor 
in 1863 there were 120 names on the roll, only 
forty-seven of which could be found in the city. 
There were now 1,413 members. In twenty years 
456 had joined the church on profession of faith at 
the church, and 639 at the chapel — an average of 
54 a year ; 807 had joined the church by certificate 
at the church, and 73 at the chapel, making a total 
of 1,975. The greatest number received in any 
one year was 135 in 1867; the largest number 



286 Howard Crosby. 

admitted on profession of faith was 103 in 1876. 
Four missions had been established and two 
carried on; there were three Sunday-schools with 
1,500 children. Besides these fields of work, there 
were extended mission labors, lectures at the 
chapel, sewing-schools and the ladies' Bible class in 
charge of the pastor. Dr. Crosby had lost only 
four months' time in twenty years by absence, 
except in the regular vacation, and one of these 
by sickness. The amount of money raised by the 
church in ten years was $300,000. 

An anthem was next sung, and the Rev. Dr. 
James M. King then made an address in which he 
said that all good citizens of this city claimed some 
proprietorship in Dr. Crosby. 

The Rev. Dr. Wilbur F. Watkins, who followed, 
said : " I bless God that over and above my 
denominational title I hold the larger and grander 
title of a Christian." He wished to say to Dr. 
Crosby : " We believe in you. Go your way and 
be much more successful in the future than you 
have been in the past." 

REMARKS OF DR. TAYLOR. 

After the singing of a hymn the Rev. Dr. 
William M. Taylor, of the Broadway Tabernacle, 



The Preacher and Citizen. 287 

was called upon as the next speaker. Dr. Taylor 
spoke in part as follows : 

My Christian brethren, I thank you for the invi- 
tation to come here and speak to you to-night. I 
would have come whether you had invited me or 
not, for I would go a long distance to do honor to 
so noble a friend and so beloved a brother as Dr. 
Crosby has been to me. For eleven years we have 
labored side by side, and he has grown in my 
esteem and in my affection. There are two qual- 
ities which it seems to me stand out most distinct- 
ively in Dr. Crosby's character ; both of them 
noble qualities. One is his transparent honesty. 
He always says what he means and he always 
means what he says. The other quality is his 
unflinching courage. If his intellect becomes 
convinced that a certain line of action should be 
pursued, his conscience forces him to pursue that 
course. What a splendid soldier he would have 
made ! What a splendid soldier he has made under 
the banner of Christ ! He never quailed before 
anybody or before any wrong. 

But it is not the man, nor the citizen, nor the 
patriot that we have come here to honor to-night, 
but the pastor. Ye are his epistle, known and 
read of all men. If this twenty years' pastorate 



J SS Hozvard Crosby. 

has exhibited one quality more than another, it is 
his quality of continuance. [Laughter.] He didn't 
give you the best he had at first and soon burn 
out. He has lasted because he has kept on preach- 
ing this Bible. He hasn't exhausted himself, 
because he can't exhaust this book. Then this has 
been a prosperous pastorate. The church has 
been both aggressive and educational. And here 
you share the credit with your pastor. May you 
keep on the same way. keeping both oars steadily 
at work, and may God spare you both so that you 
may celebrate the thirtieth anniversary, at which it 
may be said that grander, nobler things have been 
done than we tell of here. [Applause.] 

The chorus, " How lovely are the messengers 
that preach us the gospel of peace," was sung, and 
then the Rev. Dr. Robert S. MacArthur, of 
Calvary Church, spoke briefly of the honor and 
respect which he would bring from his church and 
his denomination to Dr. Crosby, whose pastorate 
had shown the sufficiency of the ordinary means 
of grace, and had borne testimony to the popu- 
larity of the Bible and to the power of exposition 
of the Scriptures. The Rev. Dr. William Ormis- 
ton, of the Collegiate Reformed Church, who had 
come upon the platform late, was called upon to 



The Preacher and Citizen. 289 

speak in place of the Rev. Dr. Talbot W. 
Chambers, and did so in glowing words of tribute 
to Dr. Crosby's talents and character as "a man, 
a citizen, a patriot, a scholar, a preacher, God's 
servant." 

DR. HALL'S ADDRRSS. 

The Rev. Dr. John Hall, of the Fifth Avenue 
Presbyterian Church, was the next speaker ; his 
address was in part as follows : 

I have had a rather curious experience in con- 
nection with this matter. About two weeks ago 
my attention was called to the fact that my brother 
had been so long here, and I kept thinking the 
subject over till I decided to apply to a member 
of your congregation to see what could be done. 
Just then my servant announced that a gentleman 
wished to see me. It was a member of this con- 
gregation who had come to invite me to be present 
here to-night. Dear friends and brethren, I shall 
not make a speech ; I shall only speak of what 
young ministers and those who are soon to be- 
come young ministers may take to heart from this 
long pastorate. Dr. Crosby has been a constant, 
consistent and earnest student of his Bible. He 
speaks, indeed, but the spirit of inspiration speaks 



290 Howard Crosby. 

through him, so that there can be no monotony in 
his ministrations. A minister ought to be a stu- 
dent of the Bible in the original languages in 
which it was written. But he should be careful 
to preach in English, which his congregation can 
readily understand. This method will contribute 
to a minister being an educational force as well as 
a preacher. A citizen of no mean city, your min- 
ister has not forgotten his duties as a citizen. I 
have heard of mankind being divided into three 
classes — men, women and clergymen. It is a 
classification that displeases me. We are men and 
we are human through and through. We should 
be gentlemen, but also manly ; courageous, but 
also forgiving and gentle. If men wish an ideal 
embodiment of these qualities, let them turn to 
him who is our guest to-night. 

I have had the privilege of working with him 
for sixteen years, and the more I have seen him, 
and have found how human, how gentle and how 
tender his character is, the more I have loved him. 
Of his courageous, fearless exposure of what is 
wrong it is not necessary for me to speak. 

Every good quality of your pastor's which has 
been emphasized to-night, and many more which 
have not been spoken of, enhance your responsibility 



The Preacher and Citizen. 291 

as a people one by one. What have you been 
doing under him through these years of faithful 
teaching ? Have you been standing still ? Have 
you been taking in and never giving out ; or have 
you been taking in that you may give out? You 
have received much through this ministry ; how 
much are you rendering back to the kind Head of 
the Church ? Do not be afraid to show your 
affection, your ample sympathy toward your pas- 
tor. Let him feel that he has an attached and 
grateful people, who will stand by him for that 
high and unselfish end, the best interests of man- 
kind and the glory of Christ our Saviour. 

A FEW WORDS FROM DR. CROSBY. 

After the doxology had been sung Dr. Crosby 
rose to pronounce the benediction. Before doing 
so he said a few words in a voice that was firm 
and clear, but filled with deep pathos and feeling. 
He spoke in substance as follows : 

I never have been so frightened nor so embar- 
rassed in my life but once, and that was thirty- 
seven years ago, just before I was married. 
[Laughter.] As I see these brethren on the plat- 
form my mind reverts to that evening twenty years 
ago when four dear brethren installed me as 



292 Howard Crosby. 

pastor of this church — Dr. Samuel Hanson Cox, 
Dr. William .Adams, Joel Parker and Henry B. 
Smith. All of the four have gone to their eternal 
homes. A few short years and we shall take our 
places with them. How solemn life is ! How we 
all ought to keep our eyes fixed on that future 
land which God is preparing for us. One idea has 
especially impressed itself upon me to-night. That 
is the thought of the wonderful grace of God, who 
is the source of all that is good. If there has been 
anything good in this ministration of mine, it is 
due to two things ; First, to the fact that my own 
dear father and mother brought me up in the fear 
of God and prayed constantly that I might be a 
minister of Christ ; and secondly, it is due to the 
loving regard and fellowship and example of these 
dear brethren, and to your own constant, faithful, 
sympathetic holding up your example before me. 
All is a manifestation of the Divine grace. Let 
us lean on it, upon its forgiving and renewing 
strength, which has prepared a home for us and is 
conducting us to it. 

After the benediction the former and present 
members of Dr. Crosby's congregation gave him 
their greetings and congratulations in the chapel 
adjoining the church where a luncheon was served. 



The Preacher and Citizen. , 293 

["From the Christian Union."] 

TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF 
HIS PASTORATE. 



Those who know Dr. Howard Crosby, of New 
York, through the public press as temperance re- 
former and as a keen though always courteous 
controversialist, will, we are sure, be interested to 
know something more of his work as a scholar, 
pastor and preacher. Last Sunday was his sixty- 
first birthday, and we take this occasion to give 
some account in another column of the life 
and services of one for whom the editor of The 
Christian Union , has not only the respect which 
the entire Christian community feel for an 
honored and able leader in its thought and in its 
work, but also the personal reverence of an old- 
time pupil for his instructor, deepened into a pro- 
found affection by a life-long acquaintance. A 
braver, honester or more candid man never trod 
the earth. This the American public generally 
knows. The tenderness and warmth of his sympa- 
thies and the fidelity of his friendship and his 
love are known only to those who have been 



294 Howard Crosby. 

brought in more intimate relations with him. He 
would always be recognized as one of the first 
scholars, especially in Biblical criticism, were not 
his fame as a scholar somewhat dimmed by his 
greater fame as an aggressive Christian worker. 
May he long live to do good service to the cause 
of truth, the Church of Christ, and the interests of 
the poor, the struggling, and the needy. 



A Tribute to Dr. Crosby 



TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FAITHFUL WORK. 



A LARGE RECEPTION AT HIS CHURCH — WORDS OF PRAISE FROM 
THE MODERATOR. 



The anthem, " Saviour Breathe an Evening 
Blessing," was sung by a large volunteer choir. 
After the prayer came the solo, " Calvary," and 
then the Rev. Dr. Smith in his opening address 
paid a flattering tribute to Dr. Crosby, saying in 
part : 

I thank the committee for allowing me to be 
present at this time. It is a rare privilege in these 



The Preacher and Citizen. 295 

days, when ministers are constantly changing pas- 
torates, becoming nomadic and dwelling in tents, 
to find one who has built a house for himself. As 
moderator of this meeting, I have the power to 
declare Dr. Crosby out of this meeting; not really, 
but officially, so that we may say freely what we 
might hesitate to say in his presence. Dr. Crosby 
does not belong to the Fourth Avenue Presby- 
terian Church, nor does he belong to New York. 
We recognize your pre-emptive right to a portion, 
a large portion of his services, but he belongs to 
us all. This church has been a watch tower for a 
quarter of a century, and during all that time your 
pastor has stood here like a faithful watchman, 
his trumpet giving forth no uncertain sound. He 
has been feeding, guiding, teaching, leading his 
people up to the very gates of the Golden City, 
from which many are* now looking down with in- 
terest on this joyful occasion. 

As pastor of this church he has done his great 
life work, but as Chancellor of the University of 
this city he held a dignified and responsible sta- 
tion and bore testimony to the high standard 
which we as a church place upon education ; on 
the platform his clarion voice has rung out bravely 
on all great questions. He is still a young man 



296 Howard Crosby. 

in all the vigor of usefulness, but as a pastor he is 
a very Methuselah — the oldest in the Presbytery 
of New York. In Baltimore Dr. Crosby has been 
a household name for fifteen years. In 1873 the 
General Assembly of our Church was held there 
and we were all very curious regarding this Coun- 
cil of Jerusalem. We wondered how the Modera- 
tor of such an Assembly — the Apostle James — 
would perform his duties. We saw and we de- 
cided that if the Apostle himself were not present 
Dr. Crosby was his veritable successor. 



{From the " Graphic," 1888.] 

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS A PASTOR. 



SOMETHING ABOUT DR. HOWARD CROSBY AND THE WORK HE 
HAS DONE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE HIS CHURCH. 



The Graphic to-day publishes the picture of Dr. 
Howard Crosby, who yesterday completed his 
twenty-fifth year as pastor of the Fourth Avenue 
Presbyterian Church. Last Monday Dr. Crosby 
celebrated his sixty-second birthday. Monday 



The Preacher and Citizen. 297 

night the big church will be filled with his friends 
and well wishers and they will not all be Presby- 
terians either. A reception is to be tendered him, 
and here are some of the old timers and young 
men who are on the Committee of Arrangements 
to see that full honor is done to the occasion and 
to the man who so richly merits all the good 
things that will be said about him : Warner Van 
Norden, Chairman ; Newton Amerman, George 
W. Lithgow, James A. Petrie, Henry D. Brewster, 
Charles L. Adams, Henry Fatio, Cephas Brainerd, 
Jr., George Jeremiah, George Keeler, Edward H. 
Marchant, Professor Thomas F. Harrison, and 
John T. Way. 

Dr. Crosby comes of good stock, though some- 
thing used to be said about the claim that his son 
Ernest once made in a political speech about the 
Crosbys tracing their family back to Edward I, of 
England, the good Doctor need not go so far back 
and yet be accorded greater honor. His great 
grandfather, General William Floyd, was one of 
the signers of the Declaration of Independence 
and a member of the First National Congress 
His grandfather, Dr. Ebenezer Crosby, was a pro- 
fessor in Columbia College and one of the sturdy 
old Puritans of his day who believed in the bluest 



298 Howard Crosby. 

of blue Calvanism. His father, William B. Cros- 
by, inherited large wealth, was a good deal of a 
a man of the world — a big hearted, broad minded 
man, whose charities were bounded within no 
sectarian circle, and who died surrounded by the 
benedictions of the many he had unostentatiously 
aided. 

Dr. Howard himself was born in this city, and 
tradition says that the good clergyman was not 
altogether a saint in his younger days. Indeed, 
the story of some of his pranks during his student 
days at the University of New York prove that 
the boy was growing up like all brave-souled, 
broad-hearted young fellows of his age, and was 
laying the foundation for that genial love of life 
and of his fellowman that have characterized and 
widened his influence in religious and social life 
for the last quarter of a century. He was a bright 
student, and some time after he graduated in 1844 
he was Professor of Greek in the University and 
filled the chair for eight years. 

In those days, between 1851 and i860, he began 
those efforts for the welfare and well being of 
young men that he has continued ever since, and 
which have given him deservedly so kindly a 
place in the hearts of the growing generation. He 



The Preacher and Citizen. 299 

was one of the first founders of the Young Men's 
Christian Association, and in the second annual 
report of that excellent institution his name 
appears as its President. The present superb 
structure which the Association possesses at the 
corner of Fourth Avenue and Twenty-third street, 
is a monument to the zeal and energy which he 
displayed in founding and building a permanent 
headquarters and comfortable home for the grow- 
ing institution. 

A too close application to his varied occupations 
compelled him to leave the city in 1859, an< ^ ^ e 
accepted the Greek professorship at Rutgers Col- 
lege. Amid the rural scenery of New Brunswick, 
N. J., he found agreeable employment and com- 
pletely regained his health. His degree of D. D. 
was given by Harvard before he was licensed to 
preach by the Classis of New Brunswick. In 1861 
he began his ministerial life as the pastor of the 
Presbyterian Church at New Brunswick. In 
March, 1863, he entered upon his duties as pastor 
of the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church, and is 
the oldest settled pastor in the New York Presby- 
tery. His efforts have been blessed to a marked 
degree in this field, the church numbering now 
over 1,500 members. 



300 Howard Crosby. 

Besides this, under his ministrations, the Chris- 
tianity of his church has broadened and widened. 
When it was organized in 1825, as the Bleecker 
Street Church, it was essentially and strictly 
sectarian, and under its good old pastor, the 
Rev. Matthew Bruen, the lines were tightly drawn 
and its doors were seldom open to the unregener- 
ate. Dr. Erskine Mason, who followed the pious 
Mr. Bruen, made no change in the steady Calvin- 
ism of the Bleecker Street worshippers, nor did Dr. 
Joel Parker, who succeeded him. 

Under Dr. Crosby the realization of the liber- 
ality and brotherhood that are marking and devel- 
oping Christian thought in these days, has made 
his church one of the most popular and frequented 
of those in New York. It could hardly be other- 
wise when the pastor himself has grown to be so 
well recognized as one whose charity is broad 
enough to enfold all men as brothers, and thus to 
bring them within the scope of his unsectarian 
Christian influence. 

He has not confined his good works to his 
church, its members and its frequenters, for he 
has gone out in the highways and byways to fight 
vice and evil doing, and he has had his occasional 
ups and downs in such contests. He and the 



The Preacher and Citizen. 301 

saloon-keepers of New York City have had many a 
bloodless battle, for as President of the Society 
for the Prevention of Crime, he has had a good 
many crusades with varying success against the 
whiskey palaces and their owners. It is not a 
surprising fact to those who know the Doctor 
that even among the nimble handed dispensers of 
stimulating beverages, the genial preacher is not 
unpopular, for in his fight against the saloon and 
its evils he manifested a charity and common 
sense that mitigated the harsh feelings that his 
actions might have engendered. Besides every- 
body knew he was sincere. 

He has not forgotten — nor has the world — the 
scholarly attributes that made him an authority on 
disputed points of learning in his university days 
as professor, and when the great Commission of 
Divines was formed for the revision of the Bible, 
Dr. Crosby was named as one of them. He did 
his part of the work as he does everything 
confided to him, carefully, conscientiously and 
well. 

He enters upon the twenty-sixth year of his 
pastorate and the sixty-third of his life with the 
kindliest wishes of numberless friends in New 
York outside of his church and far separated from 



3 : : H: by. 

him in many of his opinions. The world that 
knows him recognizes the wideness and Catholi- 
city of his Christianity, his unselfish and unques- 
tioning charity, and the good he has accomplished 
inside and outside of sectarian lines. He will 
never grow old. The world will always be bright 
and beautiful to him, and he will £0 on until the 
end of his days making as much of heaven on this 
earth as he can for the humanity with which he 
comes in contact, and men and women inside 
his church and beyond its limits will bless him as 
they do to-day. 

Just hear how he talked only a short while ago 
in a speech to the Alumni of the University, and 
note how well he perserveres in his youthfulness 
and how the genial rolicking boy of years ago 
crops out in almost every sentence. 

" We come together yearly to get new life by 
reviving old memories. The process is paradoxical 
though natural. We reach the fountain of vouth 
by a retreat The gray hairs, the wrinkles, the 
bent gait do not form a perfect photograph of that 
-mate with whom we wrestled on the marble 
floor and raced alone the walks of Washington 
Square. The youth has not gone. It is only 
covered over with the growth of vears. Wife, 



The Preacher and Citizen. 303 

children, grandchildren, professional achievements, 
revolutions of thoughts under hopes, fears, experi- 
ments, successes, disappointments — all these have 
added much to the sophomore of forty years ago^ 
but the eye of ancient affection penetrates all, and 
beholds beneath all the boy of eager step and 
hopeful heart with whom we clasped hands on the 
threshold of life. Our youth is also renewed in 
these academic panegyrics by the sight of others 
starting in the same career of life in which we 
started so long ago. 

The graduates of to-day are the very images of 
ourselves as we were then. We are ready to 
throw up our hats and cry " Hurrah, for the new 
and independent life before us ! " We think of 
patients, clients as parishoners in the future, and 
the visions of a tender face near ours, and a group 
of children about onr knee gives a rosy color to 
the prospect. We sometimes doubt our own 
identity and believe that our history is really a 
patchwork of different lives. But here the illusion 
vanishes ; we are the same. Here is the solvent 
that makes all clear. In coming back it is like a 
child returning to his mother full of veneration 
for her who taught him how to use his eyes and 
ears, how to choose the right and reject the wrong 



304 Howard Crosby. 

and how to meet the manifold requirements of 
human life." 

Note. — Referring to this Anniversary just after, one of his daughters re 
marked, that she wished it had been allowable for her to have told on the 
platform what her father was at home — it would have been a fitting climax 
to the other eulogies. M. C. 



THE CHURCH AND THE WORKING WOMAN. 



THE REV. DR. HOWARD CROSBY DEFINES HIS POSITION. 



To the Editor of the Tribune. Sir: — In Sat- 
urday's paper you quote me as saying that " the 
Church has no business to touch the matter at 
all " of the poor workingwoman. The other half 
of what I said was omitted, which was this, that 
individual Christians should personally and by 
organization do all they can to help the poor and 
needy of all kinds. The Church, as such, is a 
spiritual company seeking its own edification in 
spiritual things. This company, if it meddle with 
social or political affairs, immediately gets down 
into the dust of the world's arena and loses its 
holy character. It soon becomes a mere "party" 
in sociology or politics. It was this departure from 
its true position that made the mediaeval church 



The Preacher and Citizen. 305 

the corrupt and tyrannical thing it was. We wish 
no repetition of such a history. The Church must 
be eminently spiritual and attend only to its own 
affairs. Outside of its own communion it must 
not interfere. There is no safety for Church or 
State in any other doctrine. 

But it is also true that the principles of Chris- 
tianity will teach each Christian to do all that he 
can to help the needy. In doing this, organiza- 
tion is best, and hence the thousands of benevo- 
lent societies which Christians maintain. To 
represent me or any who, like me, protest against 
secularizing the Church, as upholding a " policy 
which ignores bodies," is a great mistake. I am a 
member of a score of benevolent societies which 
look after the temporal interests of men, and I 
always preach the duty of activity in seeking the 
temporal welfare of our fellows. I differ from my 
friend, Dr. Rainsford, in believing that all this 
good work is to be done by individuals in benovo- 
lent organizations, but not by the Church. When 
the Church does it we have the entering wedge to 
the condition of things when the Church corrupts 
itself and becomes a curse to the world. 

Yours truly, 
New York, Nov. 29, 1886. Howard Crosby. 



;o6 Howard Crosby. 

PROPER REVERENCE FOR THE BIBLE. 



Dr. Howard Crosby, Moderator of the General 
Assembly, discussed " Presbyterianism and Biblical 
Scholarship." After referring to the emphasis 
which the Westminster Confession gives to the 
inspiration and authority of the Bible, Dr. Crosby 
traced in the history of the Presbyterian Church 
its adherence to the careful and minute study of 
the Bible, as the safeguard of true religion. He 
continued : 

It is this careful conservatism with regard to the 
Bible that has preserved the Church from the 
contamination of human philosophy on the one 
hand and of human impulsive excitement on the 
other. We have felt that no road was safe that 
was not clearly revealed in the Word of God, and 
whenever departures from this path of Bible truth 
have occurred in our ministry, the Church has 
been prompt to cut off the offending member, and 
has cheerfully borne the popular reproach of nar- 
rowness and bigotry in consequence. The modern 
assaults upon the Word of God which began in 
Germany have been repelled by no branch of 



The Preacher and Citizen. 307 

Christ's Church so persistently and so successfully 
as by the Presbyterian. The speedy action of the 
General Assembly in Scotland when* Robertson 
Smith endeavored to bring his learned infidelity 
into the Presbyterian Church showed! how readily 
the Church spews out the German poison that 
Satan would so slyly administer. Our Church 
knows well that when the Holy Word is tampered 
with and inspiration reduced to a defective ecstasy, 
with indefinite human elements, the foundations of 
Christianity are undermined, and poor, needy man 
sent to his protean philosophy for shelter. This is 
but the first and most important set-back to 
paganism. If prophets mixed their own thoughts 
with God's, if apostles used false arguments, and 
if Christ Himself had a superstitious regard for the 
Scriptures from ignorance, then we cannot tell 
why Plato is not as good a teacher as Paul, and 
Schleiermacher's wisdom is not to be preferred to 
Christ's ignorance. This is the road down to the 
abyss of infidelity opened by Germany and care- 
fully worked by the conceited learning that courts 
German approbation as the seal of nobility. 

The Presbyterian Church will have none of this. 
It stands by the side of its Divine Redeemer and 
declares that every "jot and tittle" of the Scrip- 



Hcii'arci C re 

tures is truth and pronounces a woe upon him who 
would add unto or take away from the Sacred 
Book. It declares the handling- of the Book as a 
:a':le in the name of "Higher criticism" to be 
trimmed and altered according to the pattern 
shown in the inner consciousness is itself a sacri- 
lege, and it declares that the Holy Book has a 
position, a character and a history, that makes 
reverence the hrst requisite of him who would 
approach and search it. It teaches that the maxim 
used by the daring innovators, that we must treat 
the Bible as we treat any other book, is a false 
maxim to begin with, as denying the a priori 
claims to reverence and obedience which it pos- 
sesses. and that the belittling of the supernatural 
which accompanies this maxim is the very essence 
of a proud unbelief. Such is the position of the 
Presbvterian Church with regard to the Bible, the 
charter of our spiritual life and liberties. Our 
General Assemblies have given deliverances often, 
and always on the same key. on this vital question, 
and have plainly shown that the Church considers 
this doctrine of the inerrancy of the Scriptures as 
the very basis of all its doctrines, without which 
none could stai 

As a natural consequence of such a position 



The Preacher and Citizen. 309 

with regard to the written Word of God, our 
Church has produced Biblical scholars of thorough 
research and lasting fame. The very reverence 
with which they have explored the Scriptures has 
given them an insight which the irreverent spirit 
could never possess. They have been led into the 
recesses of truth, when unsanctified learning was 
left standing at the portals, and they have brought 
out the spiritual thought for the cheer and com- 
fort of the heart by consistent confidence in the 
verbal inspiration of the Bible, that verbal inspira- 
tion which a distinguished seminary professor 
lately declared to be a dogma that had been 
destroyed. If, however, that learned professor 
means that the Church does not believe in the 
mechanical theory of inspiration, all will agree 
with him, but if he means that the Church does 
not believe in the Divine superintendence of every 
word of the Old and New Testaments, so that 
the sacred writings are preserved from all error, 
then he is grossly mistaken, and he will find 
that the Presbyterian Church has never faltered 
in its firm belief in the verbal inspiration of the 
Holy Scriptures. There is no middle ground 
between this complete and verbal inspiration and 
a doubtful Scripture — a rose of wax. 



jio Howard Crosby. 

Dr. Crosby then showed how this devotion to 
the Bible as God's Word, and not man's, had 
made the Biblical relationship of the Presbyterian 
Church conspicuous for its thoroughness, and 
recalled the names of many scholars prominent in 
the past and of others equally prominent to-day. 
Before he closed he had another word for the self- 
styled " Higher Critics." saying : 

Higher criticism ought to be very modest. It is a 
criticism from very vague data. It is a critic: 
not of the text, but of the mind and purpose, time 
and circumstances, methods and authority of the 
sacred writers. In such a criticism the subjective 
is ever tempted to take the lead and the imagina- 
tion to create the facts. Invention and ingenuity 
take the place of sound judgment by reason of 
ignorance of the factors that produced the result. 
In such a held, theorists spring up like mushrooms, 
and instead of modestly proposing a theory, they 
dogmatize with contemptuous sneers at all con- 
servative scholars as ignoramuses. The Higher 
Criticism, which, at the very best, is but surmising 
(sometimes, doubtless, with convincing proba- 
bility), is conducted as if it were an exact science 
and the dicta of its Apostles to be accepted as the 
plainest truth of the multiplication table. 



The Preacher and Citizen. 



1 1 



The Presbyterian Church has a representative 
scholarship which rejects this error and declares 
the Bible to rest on a foundation that cannot be 
shaken by insidious suggestions and learned 
guesses. Presbyterian scholarship cannot read the 
solemn declarations in Exodus that God gave 
Moses the law comprised in that book, and in 
Leviticus at Sinai — declarations repeated over and 
over again — and then say that this law, called the 
priest-code in the cant of the sceptics, was not giv- 
en by God to Moses, but was a compilation of a 
later date. Presbyterian scholarship cannot read the 
book of Deuteronomy, wherein Moses speaks all 
the way through in the trans-Jordanic regions, and 
then say that Moses had nothing to do with that 
book. Presbyterian scholarship cannot proclaim 
the Bible a fraud, and that its solemn statements 
are lies, that the whole Jewish church was de- 
ceived, and that our Lord and His Apostles were 
equally duped, all of which must be the case if we 
are to accept the teachings of the Higher Criticism 
as it prevails to-day in Germany, and as it is 
echoed by the Teulolatric disciples in England and 
America. Presbyterian scholarship reasonably and 
devoutly stands by the Lord Himself and takes 
His evidence as final, not counting the Saviour of 



312 Howard Crosby. 

the world either a dupe or a deceiver, and from 
this holy position is abundantly able to meet and 
divert all the plausible darts of the adversary. It 
uses its reason and its learning not to magnify 
apparent discrepancies, but to trace out superb 
harmonies, and by the very history of criticism in 
the past, establishes this to be the only true way 
for scholarship to act. It has had enough of 
these harmonies revealed already in the teeth of 
sceptical objections to warrant it as the only rea- 
sonable thing to expect the ignominious over- 
throw of every sceptical stronghold. 

This Biblical scholarship of the Presbyterian 
Church demands as a first requisite in Bible study 
as we have seen, the reverential spirit toward the 
Book of God. It cannot, it will not permit a 
jaunty air in the treatment of the sacred page. It 
flings from it such methods as vulgar and profane. 
Its position by the side of the Lord gives it this 
holy disgust with the flippant action of so many of 
the so-called higher critics. And we may be as- 
sured that this devout attitude, which is not the 
worship of the Book, but the worship of the Divine 
Author of the Book, will ever mark the Church 
that we love and which God has so wonderfully 
blessed. 



The Preacher and Citizen, 313 

The ringing words of Dr. Crosby against higher 
Criticism were applauded loud and long. 

Judge Strong, of Washington, presided in the 
Academy in the afternoon, when Congressman J. 
Randolph Tucker, of Virginia, and S. J. Mc- 
Pherson, of Chicago, who recently declined Dr. 
C. S. Robinson's church in New York, Congress- 
man J. S. Cothran, of South Carolina, and S. J. 
McMillan, Congressman from Minnesota, were the 
speakers. 

The points which Dr. Crosby made in speaking of 
the Bible of the Church of the Future, were these : 

1. In the study of the Bible we must approach 
it with reverence. There is presumption in its 
favor. The family was used as an illustration of 
the spirit necessary in taking up the Word of God. 
A man comes to the speaker and says : " Dr. 
Crosby, I want you to look at your family criti- 
cally, and yet without prejudice. Your father and 
mother are not your own parents. Your wife is 
not your wife." It would be ridiculous to advance 
such an argument in the case of one's family, and 
the man would be a fool to listen to it. The 
critics tell us to have a clean sheet in our study of 
the Bible ; and to have a mind free from prejudice. 
The argument is absurd. 



314 Howard Crosby. 

2. The attack on the Bible and its motive. If 
the authority of the Bible is false, then its inspira- 
tion is null. Over and over a^ain occur the 

o 

words: " The Lord said to Moses." Now if the 
Lord did not say these words to Moses, the writer 
lies. There is no escape from that conclusion. 

3. The attempt of Bauer and others, fifty years 
ago, to destroy the New Testament. The result 
of that attack was to make the New Testament 
more secure than it had ever been before. Just 
as that onslaught was used to strengthen men's 
faith in the New Testament, so will the present 
attack on the Old Testament result in good. 

4. The style of attack. From the documents 
used to the complete upsetting of the whole. 
The speaker quoted approvingly, under this 
head, the admirable answer of Dr. Green, of 
Princeton Seminary. 

5. Christ promised that the Holy Spirit should 
guide the Disciples into " all truth." He was to 
testify to them and they were to testify to others. 
The Saviour's prayer was that the Father should 
sanctify the Disciples through " Thy truth. Thy 
Word is truth." If the New Testament is a 
doubtful truth, where is Christ's promise ? The 
Word of which he spoke is the written Word. 



The Preacher and Citizen. 315 

6. Science unscientific. It was shown how ab- 
surdities are swallowed without a word. Conclu- 
sions resting upon insufficient data are constantly 
accepted as truth. German facts, collected in 
dictionaries, lexicons, etc., mean German glory ; 
while the German theories show German weak- 
ness. Attention was called to the frequent wrest- 
ing of Paul's Epistles and other parts of the Scrip- 
tures to Man's destruction. 

7. Christianity without the Bible becomes super- 
stition. The assertion is made that Christianity 
is not in the Bible, it is in the life. The history of 
the Roman Catholic Church, with its Bible hidden 
away under rubbish, shows what will be the history 
of a Christianity which leaves the Bible out of 
sight. 



[From the Tonkers Statesman.'] 

DR. CROSBY ON BIBLE STUDY. 



The monthly meeting of the Yonkers Sabbath 
School Teachers' Association, held last Monday 
evening in the Reformed Church, drew together 
a large gathering. Dr. G. P. Reeve, president of 



J 



1 6 Howard Crosby. 



the association, conducted the opening services, 
and introduced the Rev. Howard Crosby, of New 
York City. The subject of the exceedingly in- 
structive address was " Bible Study," and the dis- 
course in outline as follows : 

The subject is a large one, and I shall give you 
but a few thoughts, and these not novel. I find 
we love to hear our own views rehearsed by others, 
and that this always makes an interesting dis- 
course. Protestantism of the seventeenth and 
eighteenth centuries was not conspicuous for 
energy and spirituality. Our own century shows 
a new phase. I believe the Protestant Church 
of to-day is showing a greater activity, and a deep- 
er spirituality than it ever had before. The rea- 
son also, I believe, is that the Church has honored 
God's word as never before. In the sixteenth cen- 
tury, in order to define the new position, it became 
necessary for the Protestants to prepare confessions, 
catechisms and creeds, and they were from our 
Protestant standpoint true. But that which was 
meant for the fortifications of the new Zion, that 
which was intended to be the inscribed banner of 
the new Protestant Church, has in later years lost 
its original use, and that which was done to defend 
the Church against its vile and virulent enemies 



The Preacher and Citizen. 3 1 7 

was taken as the pabulum for babes. This was 
wrong. I know many of my brethren differ from 
me here, but I believe it is a great error to take 
these philosopical formularies and give them to 
children as God's word. They are very well for 
adults, but not for children. The Church is awaken- 
ing up to the fact, and is finding out that this word 
as God gave it to us cannot be improved upon. 
Some say there were catechisms in the early 
Church. So there were, but they were simply 
questions on the history of Jesus Christ, as far as 
we can tell from the fragments that remain. Where 
was He born ? who was His reputed father? etc. 
Facts in the life of Jesus formed the staple of these 
ancient catechisms, and not philosophic formula- 
ries. Therefore, because we have put the catechism 
aside and taken God's word just as he has given it 
to us, God has honored us. 

We all believe that God gave us the Bible as it 
is, and never gave us any other. We believe that 
God inspired that sacred volume, but somehow we 
think we can arrange it better than He — put it in 
our own language, and that this will be better than 
the Bible itself. I believe that God arranged the 
Bible with the Pentateuch where it is, and Ruth 
and the Psalms where they are, on purpose. We 



: i B Howard Crosby. 

no more oucdit to change the form than the word 
itself. This Bible comes into our children's hands. 
We teach them that it is God's word just as He 
gave it. It is not a Baptist book, nor a Presby- 
terian book : it came from Heaven where there is 
no denomination. When we so honor God's word 
He will honor us. 

Xow I wish :: gdve you five hints in the study 
of God's word for ourselves and for those we in- 
struct. We are commanded to search it. That 
word " Search it " in the original is a very strong 
word. We are to bore into it as into a mine — to 
devote time and'use methods. We may lose time 
by using false methods. 

r. There is no better way of studying the Bible 
than by comparing Scripture with Scripture. When 
one has not tried it. he has no idea of the concen- 
trated lio-ht he obtains. Xo man can do so loner 
without finding that the Bible is one book. It 
grieves me to hear Christians say. boasting, 
that they never read the O'A Testament. They 
seem to forget that the Old Testament is the very 
Scriptures Christ commanded us to search, and 
which He declares testify of Him. The Old Tes- 
tament is more valuable to us than to the ancient 
Jews, because we know how to understand it. 



The Preacher and Citizen. 319 

This truth was beautifully illustrated by Dr. Crosby 
by supposing prophetic pictures of the times of our 
Revolution, granted to our forefathers in 1750. 
These prophecies would be precious, but much more 
interesting to us who can look back and call every 
fact and interpret every line. 

2. It is necessary, of course, to know something 
of the geography, history and archaeology of the 
Bible. If we receive a letter we want to know who 
wrote it, from whence it came, and what it is about. 
It adds very much to the vividness of the story of our 
Saviour of the man who went down from Jerusalem 
to Jericho and fell among thieves, to know that 
there is a descent of 3,500 feet in this journey of 
sixteen miles, and that the road runs through a 
wild, desolate, limestone region, abounding in caves, 
just the place for robbers. The twenty-ninth 
Psalm, and the bearing of the topography of Pal- 
estine, on the description of the thunder storm, and 
the woman sweeping her house of only one story, 
with a candle, because there was no window, were 
other illustrations given. 

3. Read by the context. Great harm has been 
done by wresting Scripture out of its context. All 
the supposed difference between Paul and James 
comes of this. Dr. Crosby here also, as everywhere, 



320 Howard Crosby. 

presented abundant and instructive illustrations. 
Among the common errors were praying for a 
baptism of fire as if it were a blessing. "Treading 
the wine press alone," as if it applied to the cross ; 
" the righteous scarcely be saved," as meaning sal- 
vation ; and " blessed are the dead who die in the 
Lord," for funeral sermons, showing the error in 
each case. 

4. What about commentaries ? Use none but 
those who are mere commentators of the text. 
Here they are very useful. Dr. Crosby gave striking 
illustrations of frequent unfortunate divisions of 
chapters and verses, and made a strong plea for the 
revision of the Scriptures now in progress, on the 
ground that it is our duty to bring- the truth out. 
He spoke of the old English words whose significa- 
tion has changed, Q r that have become obsolete, as 
" prevent," for going before, " conversation," for 
mode of life, " thought," for anxiety, and " earing 
time," for ploughing time. 

5. We must come to the word of God in humble 
prayer always, because we feel and know that the 
way to get at its beauty and glory is through 
prayer. In conclusion, Dr. Crosby made a very 
forcible appeal for Bible study, not only for the 
sake of the work in which Sunday school teachers 



The Preacher and Citizen. 321 

are engaged, but because bible men are strongmen. 
Bunyan and Moody were presented as illustrations, 
and all were exhorted to more faithfully than ever 
prosecute their work. 

. After the address, which occupied about three- 
quarters of an hour, a hearty vote of thanks was 
given to Dr. Crosby, and then the association went 
into business session for the election of officers. 
Dr. G. P. Reeve, president, H. J. Decker, vice- 
president, and E. Gibson, secretary, were unani- 
mously chosen. The selection of the Executive 
Committee, consisting of a delegate from each 
school, was left to the individual schools to name 
their choice. It is hoped that other prominent 
Sunday school men will be procured for the future 
meetings of the association. 



DR. HOWARD CROSBY AT YALE COLLEGE, 



The Rev. Howard Crosby thus closed his last 
lecture in the Lyman Beecher Course at Yale 
College: 

" There has been a growing dissatisfaction with 
the old stereotype custom of two services a day; 



322 Howard Crosby. 

Take away the fourth commandment and we have 
no authority of the Bible for the Sabbath and 
none but historic and physical arguments to sus- 
tain it. The Sabbath is a stop day, the day for 
stopping all labor, and the devout man imme- 
diately seizes it as the time to turn his thoughts 
to God. The discussion upon this question arises 
from two causes : First, the wide-spread doubt of 
the sacredness of the day, and second, the bald- 
ness and barrenness of our public services. The 
sacred service of song is often stolen by four living 
creatures. The hymns should be selected for the 
congregation even if it does sacrifice some night- 
ingale soprano. 



Dr. Crosby on Dr. Green. 



The Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby speaks of an arti- 
cle by Dr. Green with his wonted clearness and force 
in the New York Evangelist. He says : " Prof. 
Green, of Princeton, has an article in the Hebraica 
of January- April, which ought to be put into a 
separate pamphlet form and a copy be placed in 
the hands of every minister in the land. It meets 



The Preacher and Citizen. 323 

the Higher Critics from Reuss to Wellhausen, not 
in a general way, but by a careful examination of 
every detailed statement they make, and shows the 
utter unreasonableness of their wild work with 
Genesis. Dr. Green exposes the sophistry by 
which these men start with their destructive hypo- 
thesis, and deliberately make the text bend to it, 
creating diversities and discrepancies where there 
are none, and assuming principles of style in 
imaginary authors, which they have to establish 
by recklessly striking out certain passages as spu- 
rious. He holds up the absurdity of making R. 
(the ' Redactor) put together a mass of incoherent 
matter, which the wise heads of this nineteenth 
century are first to discover and to tear into their 
original fragments, and he conclusively exhibits 
the oneness of the Genesis narrative. Higher 
Criticism in its legitimate exercise is a perfectly 
proper examination of the Old Testament (or any 
other book) as to its authorship, time of writing,, 
etc., from evidences contained in the book itself. 
But the expression ' Higher Criticism' has come 
to mean in these days the arbitrary destruction of 
the integrity of the Old Testament, especially the 
Pentateuch, thorough bare assumption, false criteria 
and baseless dogmatism. 



324 Howard * Crosby. 

» 
" The men who make this attack have influence 

because of their learning. They are not profound 

Hebrew scholars. This fact makes many weak 

minds yield to their extravagant statements. But 

their learning does not make them wise or safe. 

Their learning does not furnish them with logic or 

sense. Their poor reasoning is hidden behind 

their remarkable erudition and the unlearned 

world are expected to bow down before their 

oracles, while many who desire to be classed with 

the learned, humbly accept and endorse their dicta 

as necessary for entrance into the learned guild. 

" Dr. Green has done a noble service to the 
Church of God, in exposing the shallowness of 
these German sophists and their English-speaking 
echoes ; and as he is equally learned in the Hebrew T 
with them, they cannot say to him as they do to 
the rest of us, 'You are an ignoramus, and only 
show your ignorance by opposing us.' 

" I trust that this elaborate work of Dr. Green 
will be widely scattered over the country, and save 
our young men, especially our young theologians, 
from this German sciolism." 



The Preacher and Citizen. 325 

Christian Union. 



LETTERS FROM PRESBYTERIAN DIVINES. 



FROM REV. DR. CROSBY. 



The Rev. Dr. Shields has prescribed a very 
simple remedy for Church separation among Pro- 
testants ; namely, union on the basis of the 
Protestant Episcopal liturgy. Coming from a Pres- 
byterian, this is very complimentary to our Epis- 
copal brethren, and very magnanimous for a 
Princeton man. We have heard of other easy 
schemes to the same end, as, for example, union on 
the basis of the Solemn League and Covenant. 

But the plan is too easy and simple ; that is, it 
is so easy and simple for one denomination that it 
would be very hard for the rest. The one denom- 
ination that would have to do nothing would enjoy 
the operation, but those that had to do all the 
changing might find it a very severe process. We 
only know of two Presbyterian ministers who 
could be counted on as venturing on this one-sided 
consolidation — Dr. Shields himself, and my excel- 



326 Howard Crosby. 

lent friend, Dr. Hopkins. I know a little about 
Presbyterians, and of them only I speak. They 
are not in love with the Episcopal liturgy. They 
cannot extol it in the panegyric of Dr. Shields. 
They like parts of it very well, and count most of 
it excellent English, but they object to a great deal 
in it, and could never make use of it. 

1. They object to the breaking up of prayer into 
little fragments, each beginning with an invocation 
and ending with a formal peroration. They con- 
sider this style of prayer too artificial and leading 
to a mechanical worship. 

2. They object to the open-eyed reading of 
prayer, as tending to withdraw the mind from the 
unseen. 

3. They object to the stereotyped prayer, how- 
ever excellent. 

4. They object to the Litany in toto, as putting 
the believer far off from God, calling on him to 
spare him as a miserable sinner, when as an accept- 
ed child of God, he should reverently call upon 
God as a dear Father near at hand, ready to be- 
stow his gifts abundantly. The Litany has no 
feature suited to the " heir of God, or joint heir 
with Christ." Many of the features of the Litany 
(like the prayer against sudden death) are but 



The Preacher and Citizen. $2J 

relics of Romanism, and its repetitions are un- 
meaning. 

5. They object to the absolution declaration, 
which is only a toning-down of the Roman absolu- 
tion bestowal. No minister is authorized to pro- 
nounce an absolution on the penitent, any more 
than one who is not a minister. That grand truth 
is for everybody to know and to proclaim. The 
minister has no prerogative here, as this section of 
the prayer book would imply. It is a remnant of 
the priestly idea of a Christian minister, while 
Presbyterians hold that all believers are equally 
priests, and that a minister is only an ordained 
leader and ruler. 

6. They object to the repetitions of the Lord's 
Prayer, as if it were a magical formula, which was 
effective by frequent repetitions. 

7. They object to the clear remnants of transub- 
stantiation in the Communion Service and of bap- 
tismal regeneration in the Baptismal Service — two 
doctrines which Presbyterians abhor. 

With such objections on the part of Presbyter- 
ians (in which, I doubt not, Baptists, Methodists, 
and Congregationalists would largely concur), 
how can Dr. Shield's plan of union on the Episco- 
pal liturgy be of avail ? 



'5 2 8 Howard Crosby. 

The truth is that Christians cannot be made to 
agree on the points referred to, nor on secondary 
matters of doctrine and church government, nor is 
it desirable that they should agree. Down deep 
in the fundamentals of Christ's divinity, incarna- 
tion, sacrifice for sin, the gift of the Spirit, faith, 
repentance, the new life, Christians of all evangeli- 
cal creeds and customs agree, and on these they can 
unite, but on nothing else. A visible union can be 
brought about only with the liberty of each Chris- 
tian or group of Christians holding his or their 
differences in creed and custom. The union 
would be by periodical congress for prayer and 
conference, and by co-operative work in Christian 
associations and alliances for general effort against 
falsehood and infidelity. This union is feasible, 
and is, indeed, beginning to be a fact through more 
enlightened Christendom. 

I am an out-and-out Presbyterian, but I find it a 
delight to work with my Episcopal friends in their 
admirable Church Temperance Society ; I have 
worked side by side with Baptists and Methodists 
in City Missions and in Young Men's Christian 
Associations, and it never occurred to any of us to 
think of denominational differences. 



The Preacher and Citizen. 329 

NO UNCERTAIN SOUND ABOUT INSPIRATION. 



The Presbytery yesterday discussed the inspir- 
ation of the Scriptures. Dr. Crosby presented 
the following resolution that was adopted : 

Whereas, Loose views touching the inspiration 
of the Holy Scriptures have become current in 
certain portions of the Christian Church, and 

Whereas, It becomes the Presbyterian Church to 
give forth no uncertain sound on so vital a doc- 
trine at any crisis when its teachings may be ques- 
tioned. 

Resolved, That the Presbytery of New York em- 
phasizes the declaration of the Confession of Faith, 
"the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
ment, are the word of God," (chap. 1, sec. 4), that 
the old Testament in Hebrew, and the New Tes- 
tament in Greek are immediately inspired of God 
(chap. 1, sec. 8), and that there is a consent of 
all their parts. (Chap. 1, sec. 5.) 



30 Howard Crosby. 

DUTIES OF THE CITIZEN AND THE PRESS. 



Dr. Howard Crosby pleaded for a greater in- 
terest in public affairs by Christian men. " If the 
duties of citizenship are of God," he said, " then 
for God's sake bring up your sons to discharge 
those duties and trust to Him for their protec- 
tion." He would also have in this country a dis- 
tinctively Christian press ; not simply what is 
called the religious newspaper and the missionary 
magazine, but a secular press based on sound 
Christian principles, advocating the highest moral 
legislation, and free from all partisan connections ; 
a press whose object is not to make money, but to 
uphold the Nation in truth and right ; a press 
whose motive should be the glory of Christ in the 
Nation ; a press which should every day, with the 
complete news of the day, furnished so cheaply 
that the humblest could buy it, furnish a whole- 
some moral pabulum for the people to feed on, 
which would mould their minds according to 
God's truth, and not according to man's falsehood. 
Such a press would have to be conducted by men 
who do not look for money returns, but who, with 
a capital consecrated to Christ, do the work for 



The Preacher and Citizen. 231 

His glory. And yet it is highly probable, he 
thinks, that if such a press were established, using 
all the modern resources for news in every depart- 
ment of life, and so making itself desirable to the 
whole public, it would soon command a sale that 
would amply remunerate the proprietors, even in 
a pecuniary point of view. 



Against Tammany Misrule, 



CITY CLERGYMEN. SPEAK WITH EMPHASIS. 



A STRONG ADDRESS ADOPTED AT AN EARNEST MEETING — 
THE PROMINENT MINISTERS WHO SIGNED IT. 



Over one hundred of NewYork's representative 
ministers met in Hardman Hall, at Fifth Avenue 
and Nineteenth Street, yesterday afternoon, to dis- 
cuss the efforts now being made by the People's 
Municipal League in the direction of ridding this 
city from the grasp of Tammany Hall. The hall 
was more than comfortably filled and the clergy- 
men talked about the situation with great earnest- 



332 Howard Crosby. 

ness and vigor. Father Ducy, of St. Leo's Roman 
Catholic Church, called the meeting to order and 
in a short address told the object of the gathering. 
He referred to the meeting of ministers which was 
held early in the summer in Chickering Hall, when 
the ministers declared for morality and philan- 
thropy as the inspiration of a movement the founda- 
tion of which was love of God and love of neigh- 
bors. Preachers and teachers of morality, he 
added, were not sinning against the decorum of 
their office by engaging in such a movement. He 
closed his address by nominating the Rev. Dr. 
Ensign McChesney for Chairman of the meeting. 
The Rev. Dr. Deems, of the Church of the 
Strangers, seconded the nomination. Dr. Mc- 
Chesney was elected unanimously. 

The Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby read an address 
which he had prepared, prefacing it with the remark 
that he was a citizen of New York before he be- 
came a minister of the Gospel, and he did not lay 
aside his citizenship or its functions when he be- 
came a preacher. This remark was vigorously ap- 
plauded. The address was plain and to the point 
and expressed the situation of affairs clearly. It 
was as follows: 

The undersigned are ministers of religion. As 



The Preacher and Citizen. 333 

such their office is to help their fellow men to a 
righteous life. In so doing they must needs con- 
sider and advise touching the application of moral 
truth to political as well as personal and social 
questions. It is only when such advice meddles 
with indifferent subjects involving no moral issues 
and so assumes the form of mere partisanship, that 
it can be justly condemned as inappropriate and 
pernicious. On all questions affecting the public 
morals it is the duty of those whose province it is 
to preach righteousness to warn the people against 
the dangers of a vicious solution and to urge them 
to a virtuous course. 

It is for this reason that we address our fellow 
ministers of religion in the City of New York at 
this time in relation to the moral wants and dan- 
gers of the metropolis that has been so highly 
favored of Providence, and ask them to join us in 
seeking to overthrow the rule of falsehood and 
fraud that now disgraces our city. 

NO PERSONAL ATTACKS MADE. 

We make no charges against individuals, for we 
have confidence in many who are now in official 
places, but we distinctly impugn the methods and 



334 Howard Crosby. 

habits that have for a long time prevailed in almost 
every department of our city government. Men 
are placed in important posts of honor and trust 
who are notoriously of depraved life, the frequent- 
ers of liquor saloons and houses of vice, and edu- 
cationally unfitted for any municipal duties. They 
manage their official influence solely for their per- 
sonal profit, or for the furtherance of the party 
that gave them their places. All public interests 
under such control either languish or are directly 
injured. The immense income of the city is fear- 
fully squandered, and under pretence of urban im- 
provement, jobs are created which never realize 
the improvements, but put thousands of dollars in 
plunder into the pockets of contractors and their 
governmental allies. It is estimated that the City 
of New York could be maintained in all its present 
condition for three-quarters of the sum now annu- 
ally expended, and this estimate is made by com- 
parison of the cost of maintaining the other great 
cities of the world, and with due regard to the dif- 
ference in value of labors and products in the 
different countries. According to this estimate, 
twenty-five per cent. (i. e., $8,000,000) is wasted 
annually, and so much added unnecessarily to the 
taxes of the people. 



The Preacher and Citizen. 335 

But this waste of money is the least evil. Loose 
views and practices are popularized. Dishonesty 
in many forms pervades the community and loses 
its disgraceful stigma. The police, who should be 
the picked men of character in the communtiy, are 
notoriously in the pay of the law breakers, the 
high officials and the courts of this department be- 
ing thoroughly tainted with public suspicion. The 
Excise Board make it easy for the disturbers of 
the peace to ply their vocation, and protect them 
against the complaints of outraged citizens. 
Money is found to be the key to open any diffi- 
culty and to shut off the efforts of justice. The 
poor are therefore oppressed and have no resource 
of relief. Every place, however humble, under the 
government must be bought. The poor man, who 
cannot obtain the hundred or the thousand dol- 
lars necessary, has no chance. Fitness for the 
place is of no account. Money and party are 
the only watchwords that gain an entrance. The 
effect of such an administration on public morals 
cannot be over estimated. In commercial circles 
the young men are tempted to follow the example 
of the officials who flourish by fraud, and, as a 
consequence, we have constant robberies by trusted 
clerks and defalcations by esteemed bank officers, 






6 H 



that public confidence is shaken in the institu- 
tions erected for public security. The whole tone 
of intercourse between man and man. as sedii 
from the records in the daily papers, is lowered, 
and false dealing is looked upon as a trifle. 

EVIL EXAMPLES TO THE YOUNG, 

Xor. is this all. The debauched life of many 
public officials leads the young to the lowest forms 
of vice, as they learn to couple success with de- 
bauchery. A drunken police captain will be the 
model of a hundred youths in his precinct, and a 
high official frequenting a house of ill-fame will 
have a thousand follow in his wake. Vice is made 
a prize instead of a disgrace to young men by the 
vicious conduct of men whom they see :o be in 
authority and whom they regard as sa:::ples of 
succe-s. 

That these :auses act Directly and powerfully to 
increase crime cannot be doubted. The very gov- 
ernment that is constituted to suppress crime and 
prevent it. becomes the minister of corruption and 
multiplies the sources of criminal life. 

There is another as pect of the problem of muni- 
ciple reform intimately connected with that which 



The Preacher and Citizen. 337 

has peen presented above. A city government 
exists to order the conditions of life favorably for 
the mass of the citizens. As far as may be practi- 
cable, it must seek, if it be a true government, to 
lighten the burdens of the wage-workers, to ease 
the strain under which the poor earn their bread, 
to broaden the way to success for the average man, 
to promote the health and happiness and welfare 
of the mass of the people. It must concern itself 
with securing equitable taxation, with enforcing 
just legislation in behalf of labor and with guard- 
ing public franchises. It must provide clean 
streets, healthful homes, ample school accommo- 
dations, and the best possible system of education, 
rapid transit facilities, whereby families of modest 
means may make their homes in the suburbs ; pub- 
lic baths, museums, libraries, etc., —in short all that 
makes for manhood, physical, mental and moral. 
This problem of good government is the problem 
of philanthrophy. Therefore it is the problem of 
religion. But every religious endeavor is handi- 
capped by our inefficient and corrupt administra- 
tion. The money which might be spent on public 
improvements is largely wasted. We could not 
intrust such schemes of public improvement as 
other cities have carried out to brilliant success 



33& Howard Crosby. 

to any but capable, honest and public spirited 
rulers. To aid in obtaining such rulers is the 
urgent duty of all religious men, in the interest of 
humanity. We ministers of religion, whose duties 
lead us to face sadly the wretchedness of our 
great metropolis, call upon our fellow ministers, as 
well as on all religious people, to put into this 
practical form that religion which teaches that the 
love of God is the love of man. 

FOLLOWING LEADERS LIKE SHEEP. 

We are perfectly certain that the vast majority 
of voters in our city desire an honest and clean 
government, but they are ever failing to obtain it. 
And why ? Simply because the great political par- 
ties of the country manage our local politics, keep- 
ing up their political divisions to the ruin of the 
city, that the parties may be continued compact 
for the National contests. This is the excuse 
which sends men by the thousands like sheep to 
follow their leader and vote for the " regular can- 
didate," be he ever so mean or corrupt. It is this 
party spell that must be broken in the city of New 
York, if we are to have a good and permanently 
good government. Good citizens must work to- 



The Preacher and Citizen. 339 

gether and vote together for good men, utterly ig- 
noring party lines. To this end there must be or- 
ganization. The People's Municipal League is 
instituted to divorce our city government from 
State and National politics, to nominate candidates 
for ability and integrity, independent of parties,, 
halls, bosses and factions, and to place the gov- 
ernment on a foundation of righteous business 
principle, and by these means purify the moral 
atmosphere of our metropolis. We look upon 
this as a religious duty and are not to be deterred. 
by any fear that the organization may be used by 
adroit politicians, for we trust in the righteousness 
of the cause and in the high moral sense of the 
great majority of the community. We therefore 
invite all ministers of religion to unite in this, 
movement, and to put before their congregations 
the importance of using the elective franchise for 
the purpose of a pure government, as against the 
demands of corrupt party organizations. We ask 
no one to leave his party on any State or National- 
issue, but we ask the members of all parties to 
unite on a moral and not a party basis in the direc- 
tion of our municipal affairs. Thus with a clear 
conscience and in the honest pride of citizenship 
the good people of New York will use their power 



340 Howard Crosby. 

and the day of deals and bosses will be over. Fit- 
ness and faithfulness will be the ruling condition 
of office, and the public morality will be guarded 
by the public administration. 

We put before the people the names of those 
who are perfecting the organization of the citizens 
as a guarantee that no party end or personal ad- 
vantages is sought, and that but one aim actuates 
the movement, the purity of our city government. 

The address was then signed by the following 
ministers : 

Bishop Potter, R. Heber Newton, Howard 
Crosby, Morgan Dix, Gustav Gottheil, De Sola 
Mendes, Charles H. Parkhurst, James O. S. Hunt- 
ington, David H. Greer, Felix Adler, Charles F. 
Deems, Benjamin B. Tyler, Robert S. MacAr- 
thur, Ensign McChesney, Abbott E. Kittredge, 
William T. Sabine, G. Frederick Krotel, Robert 
M. Sommerville, William Lloyd, George James 
Mingins, Carl Erixon, Samuel S. Seward, Amad- 
eus A. Reinke, Alexander Walters, Edward B. Coe, 
Wellesley W. Bowdish, Theodore C. Williams, 
Conrad E. Lindberg, Charles C. Goss, Homer H. 
Wallace, George Shipman Payson, George S. 
Baker, Waldo Messaros, Conrad Emil Sind- 
berg, S. B. Rossiter, J. W. Brinckerhoff, George 



The Preacher and Citizen. 341 

E. Strobridge, A. H. Harshaw, Benjamin Brews- 
ter, C. E. Bolles, Charles E. Bolton, A. P. Ek- 
man, James M. Whiton, L. N. Schwab, W. J. Mac- 
dowell, George D. Dowkoutt, Henry Wilson, Paul 
Quattlandery, Charles J. Holt, R. E. Wilson, J. 
G. Scharf, Thomas Dixon, Jr., D. M. Hodge, W. 
Warren Giles, Thomas Douglas*, William Huckel, 
James M. Philputt, Charles B. Smyth, John Parker, 
Madison C. Peters, H. Weinchel, Jesse W. Brooks, 
H. Olsen, George G. Carter, Robert Mason, Fred- 
erick Glenk, James Chambers, John Sulton, Wil- 
liam H. Lawrence, B. Hopkins, J. Worden, A. B. 
Lilja, Waiter M. Walker, A. H. Burlingham, 
George M. Mead, George H. Mayer, P. W r atters, 
Edward D. Flagg, Henry M. MacCracken, Aaron 
Wise, Thomas Drummer, James H. Cook, Peter 
Stryker, George H. Simons, Isaac McGuire,W. R. 
Harshaw, J. W. Foster, Hayman Bradsky, William 
Musgrave, Joseph Saxton, William Westerfield, 
Clifton H. Levy, Theodore A. H. Meissner, Ells- 
worth Bonfils, Charles L. Thompson, W. C. Bit- 
ting, Thomas J. Ducey, Walter B. Floyd, Newton 
Perkins, Jacob Freshman, Charles B. Smith, G. 
Edwin Talmage, Henry Morton Reed, Joseph 
Baird, Frederick N. Rutan, John Henry Hopkins, 
James H. Headley, William A. Layton, Joachim 



34- Howard Crosby. 

Elmendorf, F. Hamlin. J. S. Stone, Gottfried Ham- 
maskold, Arthur Brooks, J. G. Bates, Joseph Rey- 
nolds. Jr., S. De Lancey Townsend, S. D. Bur- 
chard, C. C. Goss, Philip Schaff, J. F. Busche, 
Spencer H. Bray, James A. Reed. A. F. SchaufHer, 
R. N. Kidd, Samuel Buel and I. Ansonelliz. 

The address w-as loudly applauded, and at its 
close Dr. Crosby said that he had watched such 
movements with great interest, and he had never 
seen one so promising. 

" Under God," he exclaimed, "it will be success- 
ful, and the days of the iniquitous city government 
are numbered. There is no reason to be discour- 
aged." 



RINGING WORDS FROM DR. CROSBY, 



The Rev. Dr. E. Winchester Donald spoke 
briefly and closed with an applicable war story, 
when a loud and general demand from all parts of 
the house called the Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby to 
the footlights. Dr. Crosby said : 

It is too late my friends for a speech from me, 
but I will make just one remark. The principle 



The Preacher and Citizen. 343 

upon which we have entered this campaign is 
that we are going to do what we can, and not that 
we are going to try to do what we can't. [Great 
applause]. 

I have received a certified statement showing 
the condition of things in the town of Bangor, 
which lies in the centre of the State of Maine. It 
is a town of only 1,600 inhabitants, but small as it 
is, it has 225 open saloons. [Laughter.] If pro- 
hibition, after thirty years trial, cannot take care of 
a town of 1,600 people in the heart of Maine, how 
long will it be before it can take care of New 
York City with a population of 2,000,000. [Tu- 
multuous laughter and applause.] 

The chairman announced that the audience 
would find printed forms of a petition at the door 
and urged friends of high license to interest them- 
selves in obtaining signatures for forwarding to 
the Legislature at Albany. The meeting, which 
was enthusiastic throughout, then adjourned with 
cheers for the proposed law. 

February 6, 1888. 



344 Howard Crosby. 

Ax General Assembly. 



THE TEMPERANCE QUESTION. 



The Rev. Dr. Petrie, of Syracuse presented the 
claims of prohibition in a short address, and then 
the Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby arose. In an instant 
the house was hushed to silence. He said in 
substance : 

" There is not a minister or elder in this assem- 
bly, I think, that does not consider the evil of in- 
temperance to be one of the greatest curses of this 
land, against which the Church of Jesus Christ 
should set its face as a flint. In this we all agree, 
and every church member should use all the means 
in his power to overthrow this evil. While this is 
our prayer to God, many of us cannot vote to 
adopt these resolutions ; first, because I do not be- 
lieve it is wise to make this Assembly the engine 
of operation in this work. It is better for the 
Presbyteries and Synods, which are nearer the 
people, to be this power. It is not best to appoint 
a secretary now, and by and by a special board of 
ce, or Sabbath breaking, or financial 
greed aibong church members. Secondly, I do 



The Preacher and Citizen. 345 

not think it wise to commit the Assembly to any 
special political form of attacking the enemy. 
Why should we, when many of the best men in 
our Church are divided on this question, adopt a 
special line of political action ? There are minor 
details which would doubtless come up if the reso- 
lutions were taken up seriatim. I do not believe 
it is a wise thing to organize little children against 
any forms of vice, intemperance or what not. I 
think it will create ideas in their minds which it 
would be better for them not to have." 



The Outlook:. 



NOVEMBER, I 



Few men of his position and busy engagements 
in this city have shown so much public spirit in 
exposing public evils and bearding and braving 
official wrong doers. In addition to the address 
referred to above, he also, last week, laid open the 
corrupt alliance of our authorities with the liquor 
power in an address before the Church Temper- 



546 Howard Crosby. 

ance Society, Bishop Potter presiding. He said 
that there are 12,000 drinking saloons in this city. 
one for even* 100 inhabitants, including women 
and children. Of these he boldly charged that 
11.000 deliberately and constantly break the law. 
and that the reason why they can do it with impu- 
nity is that rum rules the city with its great politi- 
cal power. The entire city vote is 200.000. and of 
these voters. 40.000 are engaged in liquor traffic, 
who cast a solid vote for their selfish interests. It 
is not the fault of the police, he says, that the laws 
are not enforced. " They are a brave, noble and 
faithful set of men, second to none in the world,"- 
was his glowing eulogy. Their superiors, how- 
ever., are in awe of the strong and unscrupulous 
liquor power, and upon them rests the responsi- 
bility. This fearless and direct impeachment from 
such a source has greatly disquieted the Police and 
Excise Commissioners, whose sensitiveness is 
very significant, The fact that there are such a 
host of illegal liquor-sellers in full operation, and 
that the laws restraining them are openly defied, 
is, however, incontrovertible, and is a disgrace to 
men holding positions of trust which they wilfully 
fail to discharge according to their official respon- 
sibility and oaths. Well would it be for New 



The Preacher and Citizen. 347 

York if such fearless, high-minded, upright citizens 
as Dr. Crosby could be greatly multiplied. 



Letter From Dr. Crosby. 



NEW TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT. 

To the Editor of the Tribune. Sir : — The move- 
ment begun at the Fourth Avenue Church last 
evening is intended to enlist against the tippling 
houses all those who have no sympathy with the 
radical doctrines of total abstinence. It is founded 
on the belief that the vast majority of New York- 
ers consider the drinking shops the crying nuisance 
of the city, the prolific sources of pauperism, rowdy- 
ism, crime and high taxes. It affords a platform 
for all those to act who do not consider wine 
drinking a sin, and those who recognize the 
distinction between fiery liquor and mild beer. 
Well-meaning, but narrow-minded men, the mo- 
ment you speak of such a distinction, open upon 
you with their anathemas, twisting Scripture and 
insulting common sense, until you are well nigh 



34S Howard Crosby. 

sick of attempting measures of reform. In this 
way these injudicious men have paralyzed all 
efforts of practicable amendment, throwing the 
bulk of good citizens out of all sympathy with 
them, so that the so called temperance men have 
been the great hinderers of progress in the direc- 
tion of temperance. 

Now, what we want is that all citizens who prize 
good order and sound morals and low taxes should 
demand by an overwhelming public sentiment, that 
liquors other than malt liquors be sold to be drunk 
only in the regular hotels and restaurants, as they 
are well and clearly defined by the law. 

The movement referred to began before the 
decision of the Court of Appeals. We hail that 
decision as a God-send, aud ask our fellow citizens 
to protest to the Legislature with a voice of thun- 
der against any alteration of the law of 1857, now 
declared binding by our highest court. Albanv 
will be filled with representatives of the rum-holes, 
and " sugar" in any quantities will be provided. 
Let us watch the action of our legislators, and see 
on whom this crime-helping minority of our city 
will make an impression. We must rid this nui- 
sance question of all entanglements with moral 
creeds and religious sects, and treat it as orderly 



The Preacher and Citizen. 349 

citizens, proud of New York and determined she 
shall not be enslaved and degraded by 10,000 
tippling-housekeepers. Yours, etc., 

Howard Crosby. 
University of New York, April 17, 1877. 



The Citizen in Politics 



HIS DUTY POINTED OUT BY DR. CROSBY. 



HOW HE MAY AID IN RIDDING NEW YORK OF THE GROG-SHOP- 
WELCOMING THE FOREIGNERS. 



The Young Men's Association of the Temple 
Bethel gave an interesting entertainment in the 
Synagogue last night. A musical programme was 
presented by Adolph Glose, Miss Nina Bertini, 
Miss Maud Morgan, the harpist, and Messrs. 
Newton and Windeath. The Rev. Dr. Howard 
Crosby, the speaker of the evening, sat on the 
stage with Rabbi Kohler, and was introduced 
by Isaac N. Falk, the president of the association, 
who paid Dr. Crosby a graceful compliment, which 



350 Howard Crosby. 

was greeted with hearty applause by the large 
audience. Dr. Crosby spoke on " The Citizen's- 
Duty," and after speaking of the Liquor saloons 
as a nuisance he said among other things : 

We are a people who welcome the foreigner.' 
It is the glory of the United States that as a 
Nation it stretches out its arms to the oppressed 
of every clime and promises them a loving refuge 
under its Constitution and laws. It is a noble 
position to take, and God grant that we may never 
recede from it ! But evils have come in by this 
door of hospitality. There are foreigners and 
foreigners. Many have entered into our life and 
developed it by their wisdom, integrity and faith- 
ful citizenship. They have been loved and honored 
by us. These have truly merged themselves into 
our American National life. But a noisy few, who 
were the dregs of the populace at home, some of 
whom were criminals there and who left their 
country, for their country's good, have come 
among us not to merge themselves into our 
American National life, but to poison it by their 
habits of vice and their defiance of law and 
order. It is a remarkable fact that four-fifths of 
the liquor saloons I have described are kept by 
foreigners. 



The Preacher and Citizen. 351 

These low illiterate men, whose whole idea of 
politics is partisanship and money, are actually 
made prominent (and often dominant) factors in 
the government of the people. This atrocity is 
permitted by this great Nation who could stop it 
in a trice if they would. And how stop it? By 
any ban upon the foreigner? God forbid ! To put 
anything in the way of the free entrance of the 
foreigner into the protection and prosperity which 
this country offers would be rebellion against 
God, who opened this Western Continent as a 
refuge and home for such. Are we not all the 
children of such ? The free ballot, the common 
school and the quiet Sunday are three American 
institutions, dear to every American heart, against 
which these low-lived classes from abroad with 
marvellous affrontry make their deliberate war, and 
then erect their liquor saloons as their forts and 
redoubts and commissary posts whence to carry on 
the strife. They would so have it that a native 
American should have to apologize for being a 
native American, and the fact that he was born in 
this country should disqualify him from office. 
The impudence of these men is sublime. It is 
proportioned to their ignorance. Now all this 
would be simply laughable, if it were not that 



352 Howard Crosby. 

our political parties make these low wretches of 
consequence. 

The one aim of the public should be the destruc- 
tion of the rum shops. That aim, singly held and 
unitedly sought, can be attained in two years' time, 
while " prohibition " will only divide the reform 
community and strengthen the rum power. All 
friends of reform can unite with the cry, " Down 
with the rum shops." Let anti-saloon clubs be 
formed in every ward, and through them let every 
candidate for office be questioned, and let not a 
vote be given for any one who will not promise 
his action and influence against the saloons. 
Make this the one grand object of civic action 
until the work is accomplished, a work which will 
give the laboring man the possession of his earn- 
ings, which will save thousands of families from 
destitution aud begfg'arv, which will shrink our 
prisons and almshouses and reduce the city taxa- 
tion ; which will destroy the power of bosses and 
rings, and which will elevate the morality, perfect 
the order and establish the prosperity of the 
people. 

We have much to encourage us. The commun- 
ity is awakening. A correct idea of the root-evil 
of the community is beginning to take practical 



The Preacher and Citizen. 353 

shape in the minds of our citizens. We have a 
Mayor who is honest, wise and fearless. We have 
an Excise Commission that has cut down the 
number of licensed saloons by 2,000, that has 
revoked nearly 500 licenses in the past two months 
and that considers its mission to be the preserva- 
tion of the peace and order of the city against the 
excesses of rum, God bless the Mayor ! God bless 
the Excise Board ! But they cannot do everything. 
They need and ought to have the hearty and 
pronounced support of every good citizen. It is 
for us to insist on a high license law that will 
reduce the saloon nuisance to a minimum. We 
are not to be deterred from our aim by the failure 
of Legislators or Executives at Albany. The 
united will of the great majority of the people will; 
ride over Legislature and Governor, and put a 
Government in power at Albany that will do its- 
duty to the long-suffering community. This is the 
task before us. The law is to be made that will 
strike down this impudent iniquity and save both 
the peace and the power of the city. 

Meanwhile what law we have should be rigidly 
enforced, and the liquor men taught that they are 
not a privileged class to break the laws while the 
rest of us have to obey them. And here comes in 



354 Howard Crosby. 

the utility of societies to prevent crime, and 
societies to enforce law. They can help the police 
watch these holes, and can prosecute offenders, or 
see that they are prosecuted. They can detect and 
expose all collusion between these places and the 
police, and they can bring before the public, from 
time to time, the facts which will make liquor- 
selling an uncomfortable business. Every respect- 
able male citizen should be a member of such a 
society. 

In a free country, where we are all sovereigns, 
such societies are a necessary outfilling of the 
scheme of a State or community. We make public 
servants, and then we watch and help them. The 
good ones like the helping and the bad ones hate 
the watching. The moment such societies are 
denounced or stopped we are in a despotism. 
Vigilance is the city's safety, and we are all of us 
by our Constitution made watch-dogs. Public 
officers, even when incorrupt, are sometimes lazy 
and careless, and we need to let them know that 
our eye is upon them in order to keep them wide 
awake. Many of our public officers are nothing 
but scamps, unprincipled ignorant scamps, and a 
little organized watching would have cleaned them 
out long ago. 



The Preacher and Citizen. 355 

I trust I have shown you the true remedy of our 
municipal evils in the divorce of State or general 
politics from city matters, the faithful attendance 
to the citizens' duties at the primaries and at the 
polls, the abolition of the liquor-saloon and the 
formation of law and order societies which shall be 
ready to detect, expose and punish the first act of 
official dishonesty or neglect. Public spirit — 
public spirit is what we want — public spirit in you 
lawyers, judges, merchants, tradesmen, mechanics, 
clergymen, physicians — public spirit in all of you, 
and then the filth will be washed away and the 
city will be clean and pure. 



A NOTE FROM THE REV. DR. CROSBY TO 
JOSEPH COOK. 



Here I shall take the liberty of reading to you 
a most decisive note sent to me by one of the 
champions of New York law : 

No. 116 East Nineteenth Street, December 17, 1878. 
Dear Sir: — In response to your inquiries, the 



356 Howard Crosby. 

results of a year's war for law-enforcement against 
groggeries, etc., have been : 

i. Shaping and sharpening public opinion. 

2. The vertebrating of officers and judges. 

3. The snubbing of the insolent rum power. 

4. The shutting up of the lewd theatres (two of 
them having been made examples of by us). 

5. The closing of 1,739 groggeries, so that there 
are in New York City to-day 1,739 less than there 
were twelve months ago. 

6. The laying bare of the source of the trouble ; 
the cause of difficulty in enforcing the law, to-wit : 
(a) Weakness of Judges inflicting the least penal- 
ties ; and (I?) wickedness of Excise Commissioners 
licensing all the dens of infamy as " hotels." 

7. The formation of a rallying centre for law 
and order. 

These are the blessings which the Lord and 
$4,000 have brought us in a year. In the same 
Lord, whether the dollars come or not, we trust 
for the next year. 

Yours ever truly, Howard Crosby. 

God bless the Chancellor of New York Univer- 
sity ! [Applause.] If you would stand behind 
him you would reduce your thirty-five miles of 
grog-shops one-half. 



The Preacher and Citizen. 357 

IN THE CHURCH AT HOME AND ABROAD. 



" For April, 1891, a paper by Dr. Howard 
Crosby on " Higher Education in New York," one 
of the best things he ever wrote. It is an able 
plea for religious education. 

" The first effort of a high university system of 
education in the city of New York (and probably 
the first in the United States) was made in the 
year 1829, when a few citizens of large thought 
(among whom were Albert Gallatin, Valentine 
Mott, M. D., and James Lenox) met to draw up a 
plan for a true university. At that time our high- 
est education reached only to the beginning of a 
German Gymnasium. All beyond that had to be 
brought out by individual effort. The conference, 
beginning in 1829, resulted in the incorporation of 
the University of the City of New York in April, 
1 83 1, and students were entered in October, 1832. 
A brilliant corps of Professors formed the Faculty. 
Among them was the Rev. C. P. Mcllvaine, after- 
ward Episcopal Bishop of the diocese of Ohio, 
Henry Vethake the mathematician, Dr. John 
Torrey the prince of botanists, the Rev. Dr. Tap- 



358 Howard Crosby. 

pan, the opponent of Edwards, Prof. Morse, of 
telegraph fame, Dr. Edward Robinson, the founder 
of modern Palestine research, Dr. George Bush 
the Hebraist, and Lorenzo Da Ponte, whose liter- 
ary fame in Italy had been long celebrated. No 
institution in America had ever before collected 
such an array of talent, and the hopes of the foun- 
ders were high for the future of the University. 
A marble building was erected on Washington 
Square for its use, and completed in 1835 ; a build- 
ing without a rival at that time, for beauty and 
convenience, in the city of New York. Indeed, at 
this date, fifty-six years later, there are few edifices 
in the city that are more classic in their style or 
more impressive in their effect. 

" But with this auspicious beginning the Univer- 
sity proved a failure. It was born before its time. 
The public could not appreciate a University, nor 
were funds forthcoming for its support. Nor were 
there students offering for its high and extended 
courses. 

" Accordingly it was obliged to contract itself to 
the ordinary dimensions of a college of that day ; 
but it nursed its original idea, and as the commu- 
nity became better prepared for its manifestation, 
and as the means were obtained by it to that end, 



The Preacher and Citizen. 359 

it developed the University plan, and has to-day 
over a thousand students in its various schools of 
arts, science, law, medicine, engineering and peda- 
gogy. Other colleges of the land, through the re- 
ceipt of large donations of money, have been able 
to surpass the New York University in the appar- 
atus of some of the departments, but in no institu- 
tion has more faithful work been done, and none 
has a more hopeful future. 

" That which especially endears the University of 
the City of New York to Christian hearts, is its 
uniformly religious character from the start. Al- 
though it belongs to no particular denomination of 
Christians, it has always been marked by an at- 
mosphere of Evangelical Christianity. Its original 
constitution provided that it should be a Christian 
institution, and that the evidences of Christianity 
should be regularly taught. And, as a fact, there 
has always been a direct influence exerted by in- 
structors for the spiritual welfare of the students. 
Meetings of various kinds for religious worship 
and instruction have been held in the University 
all through the years of its existence, and in these 
members of the Faculty have been accustomed 
to meet the devout students and to lead their 
thoughts and devotions. The Word of God 



360 Howard Crosby. 

has been honored, and the profoundest researches 
of science and philosophy have been shown to be 
in harmony with the divine revelation. A long 
list of prominent names in law, medicine, science 
and theoloory adorn its Alumni catalogue, and the 
works of its professors have received a world-wide 
fame. Its Prof. Morse first constructed the elec- 
tric telegraph ; its Prof. Draper first produced the 
human face on the daguerreotype plate ; the young- 
er Prof. Draper first photographed the moon, 
and the names of Da Ponte, Tappan, Torrey, 
Robinson, Lewis, Nordheimer, Loomis, Mott and 
Kent have high honor in both hemispheres. 

" The great danger of the present age is that the 
higher education may be directed by men who vir- 
tually ignore God and eliminate all that is super- 
human from the universe. The pride of the hu- 
man heart is so intense that it would explain every- 
thing by second causes and escape the recognition 
of anything superior to itself. A material or (what 
amounts to the same thing) an agnostic philoso- 
phy thus prevails, and young men are tempted to 
think that it is something manly to scout religion 
as the superstition of barbarians. Professors in 
some colleges teach this superficial thinking as 
profound wisdom, and the inexperienced minds of 



The Preacher and Citizen. 361 

youth very naturally drink it in as quite comforta- 
ble to the tastes of the natural man. The mate- 
rial progress of the age and the prevailing worldli- 
ness of its practices help this godless teaching. 
Christian parents should be aware of this insidious 
poison that is prepared for their sons in some insti- 
tutions of learning, and which much of the cur- 
rent literature of the day commends. It should 
be their care that their children be trained where 
God's Word is honored and Christianity is shown 
to be the highest philosophy. In a great city like 
New York there ought to be at least one institu- 
tion of the highest learning which is safe from the 
influences of disguised infidelity, and which recog- 
nizes God devoutly in all its instructions. It is a 
false idea that young men in the crude and plastic 
condition of their minds should be cast into the 
crucible of speculative discussion. In such cases 
their passions and lower impulses will decide ques- 
tions which only experience and calm judgment 
should determine. We need colleges to teach 
well-grounded truth and not to sow skepticism. 
The notion that the youth's mind must be a tabula 
rasa, and that the youth should write upon it his 
own choice of the truths or errors offered him is a 
false notion. Sin has by no means left his mind a 



Howard Crosby. 

tabula rasa, but has thoroughly fitted it to receiye 
the errors and to reject the truths. 

•• There is too great a readiness to diyorce the 
higher education from religion, as if there were 
some antagonism between them. It is only false- 
hood which religion antagonizes. Where the 
higher education is true it is in perfect accord with 
the Christian faith. The more profound the learn- 
ing, the better for Christianity. It is the cant of a 
false science and a false philosophy, a science and 
a philosophy fostered by the natural man. that re- 
ligion is superstition and God's Word a bundle of 
myths. Christians are to meet this broad but 
shallow tide of skepticism by rearing and sustain- 
ing (especially in our great cities) institutions of the 
higher education, founded in prayer and manned 
by godly professors. It is this which makes 
our Board of Aid for Colleges so important an 
aeent in our Church's work. It should receiye 
tenfold its present support, for it represents the 
cry of the coming generations to saye them from 
the blight of a sensuous and material philosophy 
unto God and His eternal truth." 



The Preacher and Citizen. 363 



Two Hundred NewDoctors 



A GREAT CLASS IN MEDICINE. 



COMMENCEMENT OF THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE UNI- 
VERSITY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK THE LARGEST 

CLASS EVER GRADUATED IN THIS COUNTRY 

ADDRESS OF THE REV. DR. CROSBY. 



The thirty-eighth commencement of the Medi- 
cal Department of the University of the City of 
New York was held last night in the Academy of 
Music, which was crowded with friends of the in- 
stitution. The graduating class numbered 205, 
the largest ever known in this country. The ad- 
dress to graduates was made by Chancellor How- 
ard Crosby. 

ADDRESS OF THE REV. DR. CROSBY. 

The address to the graduating class was then 
delivered by the Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby. It was 
listened to with much attention and brought out 



364 Howard Crosby. 

frequent applause. The following are the main 
features of the address : 

Gentlemen of the Graduating Class : The 
same faculty who have counted you worthy to 
receive the degree of Dr. of Medicine have 
counted me worthy to address you with words of 
counsel on this occasion ; and if I respect their 
decision in the one case, I am obliged as a reason- 
ing mortal to respect it in the other. You have 
no idea how much this bit of logic supports me in 
my present trying position ; when a man whose 
knowledge of medicine is a purely subjective one 
(and fragmentary at that) is called upon to advise 
those to whom medicine is the great objective, and 
who have made themselves familiar with the mate- 
rial man from the occipital to the metatarsals. 
Whenever I enter the medical college a new sense 
of my ignorance bursts painfully upon me, accom- 
panied by a profound feeling of awe ; to conceal 
both of which I have to summon all my powers of 
hypocrisy, and to appear very knowing and per- 
fectly at my ease. So I walk around the museum, 
and, delighted, examine the bottled diseases that 
ornament that instructive department, and if Dr. 
Darling is near, I drop a Latin phrase of admira- 
tion ; then I mount to the microscopic apparatus, 



The Preacher and Citizen. 365 

and put histological questions, whose answers, 
wholly indigestible, I nevertheless swallow with 
apparant gusto. 

Now, when I have thus taken you into my con- 
fidence, what, I pray you, can I say to you that 
will either interest or influence you in the begin- 
ning of your practice ? One thing is certain, I 
must get you away from the medical college. It 
will not do for me to utter a panegyric on the 
great medical names of the past, for though I 
might be safe with Hippocrates and Galen, (you 
are always safe with them, as you are with George 
Washington), I should surely get into trouble 
when I reached the times of Spurzheim and Hah- 
nemann. I must lead you down, then, from the 
Olympian heights of medicine, into the academic 
groves of common sense. 

The first I find is the terse adage : " A rolling 
stone gathers no moss," which I suppose may be 
also read : " an itinerant doctor gets no practice." 
There are souls in this world so impatient that 
they dodge their opportunities. Their opportu- 
nities come along and find them gone. If they 
had waited the tide would have turned or the wind 
would have blown from a different quarter. A 
professional man starting in life will be sorely 



J 



66 Howard Crosby. 



tempted to this restlessness. Wearily waiting for 
clients or patients, it is very natural to think : 
" This cannot be the spot. I ought to be in an- 
other part of the city or in another town," when 
it is the spot, only he isn't the man quite yet. He 
will be when he has become longer known to the 
neighborhood, when that acquaintance has ripened 
into confidence, and confidence into experience of 
his professional ability. Great names were once 
very small names, and large fortunes began with a 
dollar. Identify yourself with one place, and in 
due time you'll become as well known and well 
used as the penitentiary. 

VALUE OF PROMPTNESS AND CHEERFULNESS. 

My second gem is this : " The early bird catches 
the worms." I know malevolent wit has from this 
wholesome saw drawn an unhealthy conclusion 
about the stupidity of early worms. But it is with 
the early bird that catches them your moral lesson 
lies. The adage means promptness, and prompt- 
ness means self denial, and self-denial is ugly. If 
you are ever ready on call, people will be ready 
with their calls. They always count the prompt 
doctor as the best doctor. They feel that he has 



The Preacher and Citizen. 367 

a personal interest in them, while their pride is 
wounded by the physician who appears to neglect 
their case. It may not be as we would like it to 
be, but nevertheless it is a fact, that moral qualities 
have more to do with success than scientific quali- 
fies. 

My third jewel is from the Solomonian store- 
house : " Pleasant words are health to the bones," 
which may be also read : " A doctor's cheerfulness 
is quite as good as his physic." For if you would 
have pleasant words come naturally and abundant- 
ly, they must well up from a cheerful heart. I wish 
some one of you would take the leisure of the next 
year, while you are waiting for patients, in study- 
ing the curative properties of cheerful manners in 
the sick room, and then publish your discoveries 
in a manual for the professors to use with their 
classes. I don't suppose you could do much with 
scarlet fever or small pox by using pleasant words ; 
but what a vast array there is of nervous diseases 
to which they would be like the breath of Spring 
and the oxygen of the mountain top. Men with 
long faces and fond of sighing should never be- 
come doctors. Medicines must sometimes be dis- 
agreeable but doctors should never. A physician's 
face should be like sunshine and his voice like 



J 



68 Howard Crosby. 



wedding bells. Who could get well with Polyphe- 
mus as physician and Medusa as nurse ? 

NECESSITY OF ECONOMY IN TIME. 

My fourth nugget is as old as Confucius, but it 
is pure gold, and so is as good now as ever it was. 
It runs this way : "Take care of the pennies and 
the pounds will take care of themselves." Physi- 
cians may reduce cedemas, but they are not apt to 
be swells themselves. And it would be cruel to 
tell you to save up a thousand or so out of your 
first year's fees. No, I have have quoted the 
proverb for quite another purpose. It is of time, 
not money, I would use it. Your whole life is to 
be given to science, to one of the noblest depart- 
ments of scientific research and activity. You are 
therefore to grow in scientific knowledge. But 
you'll have scraps of time, five minutes here, and a 
quarter of an hour there, coming along very tan- 
talizingly, and these scraps are your very fortune. 
These are your time-pennies, which, if you take 
care of, will be pounds that take care of them- 
selves. I knew an accomplished Latinist who got 
all his Latin by stealing it in this way, when, as an 
errand boy, he had to wait for answers. His 



The Preacher and Citizen. 369 

Horace or his Livy popped out of his breast- 
pocket while he stood in the hall, and when he 
ran back with the answer he carried two or three 
Romans in his head more than he had before. 

My fifth specimen is a Latin one : " Labor 
omnia vincit," which in a free translation means 
" Industry wins the prize." You have two work- 
shops — your office and your patient's bedside. Be 
very watchful of yourself when you are not at one 
or the other. You must avoid all switching off in- 
to "society," so-called, or into pecuniary specula- 
tions, or into light literature, or into professional 
slovenliness. Don't get the reputation of a doctor 
who got his full growth the day he was graduated. 
Keep abreast of medical progress. Take a good 
medical journal, even if you have to eat your 
bread without butter to pay the subscription. 
Seize every opportunity to increase your knowl- 
edge of remarkable cases, so that you will rise 
above the books, and have a judgment and power 
of your own. In short, be a telegraph in your 
quick perception and a steam engine in your 
activity, and you will laugh at and leap over every 
obstacle to success. You have entered on a course 
where laziness is a disgrace and would make you 
ashamed of yourself. 



S7° Howard Ci-osby. 

My sixth thought is also Latin : M Obsta prin- 
cipila," which good old Matthew Henry translates 
by an English proverb: " Nip mischief in the bud." 
Begin your medical career with a careful avoidance 
or abandonment of bad habits, especially such as 
would harm your standing in the esteem and 
regard of your patients. A man whose clothes are 
saturated with stale tobacco-smoke is not an agree- 
able visitor in a sick room. Nor is it reviving to a 
delicate organization to have stimulants applied 
through the physician's breath. Neatness in per- 
sonal apparel and delicacy in manipulation may 
seem to be small matters, but I can assure you 
that their neglect may have a weighty influence 
toward failure. 

TRUE AIM OF A PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 

Let me now conclude by a few general senti- 
ments. Yours is a profession and not a trade. 
Don't forget that. The object of a trade is to make 
money. The object of a profession is to bless 
mankind. The moment the making of money 
becomes the main idea of a professional man, he 
ought to have his uniform taken off and be 
drummed out of camp. Let the thought that you 



The Preacher and Citizen. 371 

are the world's benefactors sharpen your eyes in 
diagnosis and steady your hand in amputation. 
Let it come like a soothing breeze when you are 
flushed with the heat of disappointment. Let it 
draw the curtain of forgetfulness over that lost fee. 
Let it be butter to your bread and sauce to your 
pudding. Let it hide from your eyes the patch on 
your boots, and enable you afoot to meet with 
superb serenity the luxurious merchant rolling by 
in his cushioned chariot. He worked for that and 
won it. He deserves it. You worked for some- 
thing better ; and from your high position chariots 
and livery, with dog-carts and their occupants 
thrown in, are too small to be seen. Remember, 
too, that you will have to mingle in close and 
confidential relations with men — men whose souls, 
even though their bodies came from monkeys, are 
going to live forever. For I cannot believe that 
any of you are so stupid as to confound mind and 
matter. Those men, I tell you, to whom you are 
going to administer quinine and ipecac are going 
to live forever, and so are you. So the acquaintance 
will be apt to be a long one. Wouldn't it be a good 
idea to make it a happy one ? Wouldn't it be well 
to add to your transparent truthfulness in your 
dealings with these men, a constant recognition of 



Si 



Howard Crosby. 



your and their relation to Him who formed these 
curious bodies, and gave us the wonderful power 
to study them ? Nay, would you not in that recog- 
nition find the true incentive and support for truth- 
fulness to others? It would be sad indeed if 
friendships and growing knowledge ceased with 
this short and brittle life of the body. Let, then, 
the higher life beyond this cheer you on in your 
successful way with its promise of still purer friend- 
ships and grander researches into truth ; and all 
along your path, amid the changes of cloud and 
sunshine, up-hill and down-hill, let your hand 
confidingly rest in the offered hand of God. 

February 19, 1879. 



DR. CROSBY TALKS TO HEBREWS OF ABRAHAM 



The Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby gave a lecture 
on "Abraham" last night before the Young Men's 
Association of the Jewish Congregation Ahawath 
Chesed. A large audience filled the vestry rooms 
of the Jewish Temple, Fifty-fifth street and Lex- 
ington avenue, and heartily applauded Dr. Cros- 



The Preacher and Citizen. 373 

by's remarks. " The supreme virtue of Abraham," 
he said, "was faith; faith in spiritual things. He 
was brave, dignified, patient ; but, above all, he 
was the friend of God. It was the Abraham's 
trust in the unseen which gave the Jewish Nation 
that splendid history which fills the world. There 
is a glorious future for the Children of Abraham. 
The promise given to the Father of Israel has not 
been fulfilled. But this future fame and glory will 
only come through a renewed devotion to that 
ideal which lead Abraham away from Mesopotamia 
to found a nation in an unknown and unfriendly 
land." 



374 Howard Crosby. 



CHAPTER V 

MISCELLANEOUS. 



[From the Seic York •' Observer."] 
HOWARD CROSBY. 



EASTER SUNDAY, I502. 



One year in Heaven ! With the glory bright 

Beyond the portals of the sky, 
Made clear to him to whom the Lord of Light 

Revealed the hidden mystery. 

One year in Heaven ! All too short for him 

To taste of life for evermore, 
And yet how quickly do our eyes grow dim 

Counting the long days o'er and o'er. 

One year in Heaven ! Full of peace and joy, 

While we are toiling here below, 
He knows the happiness without alloy, 

Which only God's redeemed can know. 



Miscellaneous. 375 

One year in Heaven ! Loyal and sincere, 

Sadly we miss him from our sight ! 
The world seems empty since he left us here, 

Harder the battle we must fight. 



One year in Heaven ! A new Easter day 

Dawns softly on a world that sleeps. 
How full of bliss that Easter far away, 

Which with his risen Lord he keeps I 

Julia B. Schauffler. 



FROM THE TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 
P. E. CHURCH TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. 



The last session was held in the evening, and' 
was well attended, Rt. Rev. Bishop Coleman pre- 
sided, and gave an able address on " The Dual 
Basis" of the C. T. S., and by which it is distin- 
guished from all other societies in the country. It 
defines " Use" and ''Abuse," and elicited the short 
and pithy eulogium of the late Dr. Crosby : " It 
stands with one foot on the rock of the Gospel, 
and the other on the rock of Common Sense." 



$j6 Howard Crosby. 

In the unavoidable absence of Rt. Rev. Bishop 
Potter the following letter was read from him : 

o 

" Nov. 9, 1 89 1. 
"My Dear Mr. Graham : 

" It is a matter of much regret to me that ab- 
sence from the city will prevent my attendance 
upon the annual meeting of the Church Temper- 
ance Society. I had wished to hear of your year's 
work, and of the society's plans for the future ; but 
I must own that I had especially desired to give 
some expression to our sense of a loss in the death 
of the Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby, which with me 
grows every day more keen. 

"You knew, as I did, Dr. Crosby's ready sym- 
pathy with every righteous cause, but you know, 
better than most of us, how much he prized the 
Church Temperance Society, and how courage- 
ously he espoused its cause. It cost him much 
criticism and some obloquy. But there never was 
a man more utterly indifferent to that sort of thing, 
while his generous sympathy with brethren parted 
from him, in other ways, by many differences, was 
a lesson to all of us. I shall always miss his keen, 
eager, and fearless personality, and the Church 
Temperance Society may, I think, wisely put upon 
record its tribute of respect for the memory of one 



Miscellaneous. 3 77 

who served it so cheerfully and powerfully and 
whose resplendent example of dauntless devotion 
to duty is a precious heritage, as to every good 
cause, so pre-eminently to the cause of Christian 
Temperance. 

" Believe me, dear Mr. Graham, 

" Ever yours, faithfully, 

" H. C. Potter. 
" Robert Graham, Esq." 



FROM THE SAME REPORT. 
$n * pemoriam. 

The Rev. Howard Crosby was a man among 
men ; a citizen of whom New York might well be 
proud. He was a familiar figure on our platform. 
He stood there by right of work well done. His 
words were always brave and fearless. He saw 
eye to eye with us. We are glad to recognize the 
noble traits in the character of a minister of a 
church other than our own. 



378 Howard Crosby. 



GOSPELMISSION TO THETOMBS, 



The services in connection with the inaugura- 
tion of the Rev. Dr. William M. Taylor as presi- 
dent of the Gospel Mission to the Tombs, took 
place yesterday afternoon in the South Reformed 
Church, at Madison avenue and Thirty-eighth 
street. All the speakers referred to the high re- 
gard in which the Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby was 
held as a man, and paid a graceful eulogy to his 
services as president of the mission. His death 
left the place vacant. The Rev. Dr. Roderick 
Terry, pastor of the church presided, and intro- 
duced the speakers. Dr. Taylor spoke briefly, 
saying he was impressed, not so much by the 
greatness of the work, as by its importance. He 
was moved to accept the place from his intimate 
acquaintance with and admiration for Dr. Crosby. 
There was a wide difference, he said, between suc- 
ceeding to a place and filling it. 



Miscellaneous. 3 79 

Prof. Crosby's Like of Jesus. 



A new work by Chancellor Howard Crosby, of 
the University of this city, entitled "Jesus: His 
Life and Work as narrated by the Four Evange- 
lists," has just been published by the New York 
University Publishing Company. 

In the preface to this Life of Jesus the author 
says : " Man's search into this truth must be a 
search into the great fact as given us, and not an 
independent appeal to consciousness or reason." 
This has been the guiding principle in the compo- 
sition of the book. The writer has allowed no 
place for the ambitious display of his eminent abil- 
ities as a critical scholar of the New Testament 
Greek, or as a student of the voluminous German 
commentaries on the Gospels. He has given 
his readers a simple, literal transcript of the story 
of the four Evangelists, harmonizing them without 
violence, arranging the events in their most prob- 
able sequence, and adhering throughout to the 
most obvious meaning of the text. 

He neither suggests nor attempts to explain 
away any difficulties in the story of the miraculous 



380 Howard Crosby. 

birth of Christ ; he only tells the simple story of 
the angel's visit to Mary, of the vision of the shep- 
herds, and the pilgrimage of the Magi. 

The author always accompanies the incidents of 
the Gospel story by a description of the places 
where they occurred, and does it in the vivid and 
graphic manner of one who has himself visited the 
Holy Land. 

He supposes the scene of the temptation to have 
been the wilderness of Sinai, and that Satan ap- 
peared in the guise of a veritable man, "probably 
as a holy man, who had been waiting; for the Com- 
ing One, saluting Jesus with a gracious greeting to 
throw him off his guard," and urging him kindly to 
allay his hunger by turning the stones about him 
to bread; Jesus refused, knowing that such was 
not the will of his Father. When the days of 
Christ's fasting are accomplished the "holy man n 
accompanies him on the journey out of the desert 
through the villages of Judea to Jerusalem, and 
there, mounting to the temple roof, Satan suggests 
to the Messiah that he could at once establish his 
divine origin by a leap to the ground among the 
crowds below, as such a feat would be accomplish- 
ed without injun'. Jesus rejects the appeal, with- 
out, however, perceiving the true character of his 



Miscella neous. 381 

companion. They thence proceed together to a 
mountain top, where " Satan uses his mighty 
power as a prince of the power of the air," and 
showeth him all the kingdoms of the world and 
the glory of them, offering them all in return for 
an act of homage to himself. Now Jesus recog- 
nizes the fiend, and calls him by his name, " Get 
thee behind me Satan ! " 

Demoniacal possession the author regards as an 
unquestionable fact. In the case of the madmen 
of Gadara, for example, he presumes that they 
were actually possessed by at least two thousand 
devils, since these when cast out by the Lord en- 
tered into the bodies of that number of swine ; ad- 
ding that " if the name legion were to be literally 
used six thousand demons could make their home 
in one man's body." 

The close adherence to the text and the clear 
and charming style in which the story is told com- 
bine to add to the charm of familiarity the interest 
also of novelty. One could wish that in quotations 
the very language of our translation were more 
closely followed. As, for instance, in the scene of 
the Last Supper, the author writes : " He who dips 
his morsel at the same time with me in the bowl of 
sauce, and to whom I give my dipped morsel." 



o 



82 Howard Crosby. 



The purpose of the work is said to be to pro- 
mote the study of the Gospels, and we think no 
one can read it without being stimulated to read 
more carefully the text of the Evangelists, and to 
form a clearer conception of the reality of the peo- 
ple, and of the places and customs of which they 
tell us. 

The work is printed on good paper and in large 
type, and illustrated with care and judgment, 
though it is be regretted that the woodcuts are not 
better executed. The frontispiece is an engraving 
of the head of Christ after a bust in marble by H. 
N. Kingsley, M, D., an amateur sculptor, one of 
Dr. Crosby's parishioners, who was led to do it by 
these discourses on the life and work of Jesus. 



Notices ok Sermons 



" Sermons by Howard Crosby " (A. D. F. 
Randolph & Co.) are a bit of Howard Crosby 
himself. They reflect his simple faith, his deep 
knowledge of things spiritual, his rugged honesty, 
and his wide sympathy with all that pertains to 
human life. In their classic simplicity and manly 



Miscellaneous. 383 

tenderness they are a model for young preachers ; 
and with all their other merits they are also 
models of pure and idiomatic English. They are 
an appropriate memorial to a man of whom all 
Americans, whatever their religious affiliations, 
should be proud. — N. Y. Tribune, November 28th, 
1 891. 



" Sermons, By Howard Crosby," cloth, 247 
pages, price $1.75, (N. Y., A. D. F. Randolph & 
Co.) We are glad to get this modest little vol- 
ume. Dear Dr. Crosby ! How we loved him ! 
Who could help but love him ? We knew him as 
a boy, and a student, and a young man, and then 
as a minister and citizen. He was always a good 
companion and a genial friend. He was a true 
man and a thorough Christian. He was a theolo- 
gian and a preacher. These sermons, prepared 
by him and delivered to his people, were not 
intended for the press, but they are worthy of 
publication and a large circulation. They are not 
only discourses, but full of juice and of the very 
best flavor. They are brief and practical, full of 
thought and calculated to please the mind and 
feed the soul. This book will, no doubt, have a 



384 Howard Crosby. 

large sale. — Christian Weekly, December 12th, 
1 891. 



Dr. R. S. McArthur, in his weekly letter to the 
Christian Inquirer, devotes the first part of it to a 
review of " Dr. Crosby's Sermons," published 
since his death. gl At times, in reading this vol- 
ume," the writer says, " one can almost hear Dr. 
Crosby's clear and manly voice ringing out his 
sentiments of faith in the Word of God, and his 
exhortations to men to obey its authority, and it is 
the pure heart of this noble man, which was 
sweetly imaged in his beautiful face, which throbs 
all through this volume." — Christian Inquirer, 
March, 1892. 



" Sermons by Howard Crosby." In this vol- 
ume there are twenty-two sermons, covering a 
wide range of subjects, and selected from those 
preached by the late Rev. Howard Crosby, D. D., 
in the course of his regular ministry to his people 
at the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church, of 
this city. It is stated that they are printed from 
the rapidly written original manuscripts, and re- 



Miscella neous. 385 

quired neither verbal correction nor revision to 
adapt them for publication. A careful reading of 
the volume fails to discover anything it were de- 
sirable to change. What a tribute is this to the 
clearness and precision of Dr. Crosby's thinking 
and his readiness of apt expression. No preacher 
has surpassed him in these respects, and perhaps 
it may be added, that in them comparatively few 
preachers have equalled him. Clearness of insight 
into the meaning of the Divine Word, a rare 
power of intense, logical and convincing expres- 
sion, and an ability to felicitously lay under tri- 
bute a wide range of scholarship and reading for 
the illumination of truth, are conspicuous in these 
discourses. Associated at times with these is great 
descriptive power. But these descriptions of Dr. 
Crosby are sui generis. They are not wonderful 
pieces of word painting, but a massing together of 
suggestive incidents, which — as in description on 
pages 122-123 — powerfully heighten the effect 
of the truth presented. This volume is a pleasing 
memento of Dr. Crosby's helpful pulpit ministra- 
tions, and many will rejoice to have a volume so 
characteristic as this is of the friend they have 
lost. (Anson D. F. Randolph & Co.)— N. K 
Observer, December 10th, 1891. 



86 Howard Crosby. 



IN MEMORIAM-HOME MISSIONS. 



To keep in loving remembrance our beloved 
friends who have passed into the beyond, is the 
constant desire of those who linger here. We 
talk of the departed, we bring offerings of flowers 
in testimony of our undying affection. We carve 
their names in expensive granite, but more worthy 
of noble souls, and more enduring than these, are 
the living memorials which perpetuate influence 
in works of philanthropy and Christian education. 

A memorial of this character, in harmony with 
the wide beneficence and the untiring labors of 
their honored pastor, Rev. Howard Crosby, D. D., 
of New York, the ladies of the Home Missionary 
Society of that church purpose to dedicate to his 
memory. This memorial is to be a building which 
shall cover a school for Indian children, a teacher's 
house and chapel, to be located at Pelican Lake, 
sixty miles from Tower, in Northern Minnesota. 

H. E. B., 

53 Fifth Avenue. N. Y. 

Ma}' 18, 1892. 



Miscellaneous. 387 

[From the " University Magazine."] 

REMINISCENCES of the DELTA PHI FRATERNITY. 



BY REV. H. EDGAR PRATT, M. A., N. Y. U., 1 892. 



Next to these, let me here present another, who, 
though not one of the founders, came first among 
those initiated in the year of foundation — Howard 
Crosby : veneraible nomen! Omni exceptione ma- 
jor. 

He was not only my classmate, but, by happy 
circumstances, my closest associate, if not the most 
intimate " friend of my early days." What " sweet 
counsel we took together," and " walked with each 
other," as brothers. 

It chanced that we were near neighbors, his 
family residence being in Rutgers Place, then a 
fashionable vicinage, though few of the present gen- 
eration can now locate it, and mine in Henry street, 
near Rutgers. Hence, we often walked together, 
returning home from the University in Washing- 
ton Square, till it became customary to halt at my 
house, being nearer, and pass an hour or so dis- 
cussing lessons. Crosby was proficient in Greek, 



SS Howard Crosby. 



as was practically evidenced not long afterwards, 
by his appointment to the chair of that language 
(in his Alma Mater), as the successor of that emi- 
nent scholar, Prof. Tayler Lewis, LL. D. 

On the other hand, his neighbor-colleague was 
somewhat readier in the Classics of Cicero and 
Horatius, and we were therefore able to exchange 
courtesies of aid in unravelling knotty points, and 
getting over difficult bridges, greatly facilitating 
our diurnal interviews with learned professors. It 
naturally followed that three or four years of such 
continuous association, such friendly mental com- 
munion, should result in helping us to know each 
other better than either one knew himself. Indeed, 
it was no surprise to me that Crosby, in later life, 
became so distinguished as " Homo multartim lit- 
ter arum." 

His mental organization seemed an all-control- 
ling, if not leviathan, power. It had been my ex- 
pectation that his life, which appeared so capable 
of endurance, would have been prolonged to war- 
rant his presence at the half-hundreth anniversary 
of his Chapter. That he should have been sud- 
denly snatched from our midst within barely a 
twelve-month before that event, heightened the 
poignancy of our grief. For, otherwise, he would 



Miscellaneous. 389 

surely have gladdened the hearts of his brothers at 
that rare convention, by his glowing words of wel- 
come and of wisdom. As "Primus inter pares" he 
would, no doubt, have been then acknowledged by 
"omnes fratres in concilio." But the Divine Dis- 
poser of events had not so ordained, and we who 
remain, may justly bewail the loss of one of the 
brightest and purest spirits of our fraternity, who 
through so many years of his useful, graceful 
earthly sojourn, " allured to brighter worlds, then 
— led the way ! " 

I think it would not be vain assumption to 
maintain that the City of New York had never a 
citizen who was more disinterestedly devoted to 
its welfare than Dr. Howard Crosby. From the 
earliest manhood — excepting a brief professional 
experience in Rutgers' College, he had worked 
hard and faithfully in its best interests. While 
fulfilling the duties of his office, in New Bruns- 
wick, at the college which, I believe, took its name 
from his maternal grandfather, Colonel Rutgers, 
he passed through the course of Theology, which 
enabled him to be appointed a minister of the 
Reformed Dutch Church, in which capacity he 
rendered much acceptable service. 

But, ere long it was evinced that his abilities 



39° Howard Crosby. 

demanded a wider field of usefulness than he had 
yet known, when he was called to be pastor, in his 
own " city of no mean renown," of the important 
Presbyterian Church on Fourth Avenue. Not 
long after he was elected to the vacant Executive 
Chair of the " University of the City of New 
York." The cry was, still, "Come Up!" It came 
from his " Alma Mater," which, while yet quite 
young— as we have noted — had made him a mem- 
ber of its Faculty. Now, it was that as Chancellor 
and Pastor, in these two distinct offices at once, he 
gave many years of inestimable labors till — "not 
too soon for human nature's good " — he wisely 
relinquished the collegiate dignity. 

For the remaining term of his ever-active life he 
was occupied in the manifold exercise of untiring 
energies in behalf of his fellow-creatures, as well as 
in pastoral ministrations to all in need, and other 
beneficences without number, until the last call 
came, " Come up higher ! " And he accepted, with 
" all his armor on ! " 

The life of brother Crosby was a continued 
exhibition of good words and deeds in behalf of 
those among whom his lot was cast. As a star of 
the first magnitude, Delta Phi may be justly proud 
to point to him as one who cast bright effulgence 



Miscellaneous. 39 1 

upon the Order. Distinguished in every capacity 
— a model pupil, professor, pastor, president, phil- 
anthropist, patriot, " philosopher and friend" — his 
memory should be revered as one of the best and 
foremost of illustrious citizens who (" through the 
ages all along") have adorned this metropolis. If 
he ever made any enemies (and what great men 
do not ?) they were such as could cause him no 
sorrow, because of his conciousness of rectitude. 
His heart was big enough to love them all. Pre- 
eminently he possessed what Horace termed, 
" Mens conscia sibi recti," as well as " Mens sana in 
cor pore sano." 

So recent was his earthly existence in our midst, 
and so patent to all his efforts towards the better- 
ment of humanity that there is no need to dilate 
on the theme, though it would be an easy task to 
cover many pages more — did space allow— of 
eulogy, "In Memoriam,." * * " A Christian 

is God Almighty's gentleman !" If this definition 
be just and true, it fits Crosby well ! 

It is quite apposite — in this connection — to note 
the repetition, in the chronicles of our Fraternity, 
of no less than seven possessing this surname, of 
whom we would especially mark that of his son, 
the Hon. Earnest Howard Crosby. He was ad- 



39 2 Howard Crosby. 

mitted to our Gamma Chapter in '72, and to the 
Delta (Col. Coll.) in '76. While yet in early man- 
hood, he served with distinction as representative 
in our Legislature. By the present national ad- 
ministration, he has been intrusted with an impor- 
tant judicial mission in Egypt, where, we doubt 
not, he will fulfill the expectations of his brothers 
of the Delta Phi, as well as of all his father's old 
friends. 



Howard Crosby. 



One year ago to-day the spirit of Dr. Crosby 
departed from this world. How sad we felt when, 
anticipating the worst, we saw his death announced 
in the daily news ! No one present at his funeral 
will ever forget the awful solemnity of the scene 
when the casket containing his body was carried 
up the aisle and placed before the pulpit from 
which he had so often preached the glorious 
Gospel. We looked for the last time upon his 
handsome features, sorrowing that we should see 



Miscellaneous. 393 

his face no more. We had so long associated life 
and energy in highest degree with his frame, that 
it seemed difficult to realize the truth that both 
had departed from it forever. 

We miss him in the writings which he gave so 
abundantly to the press ; we feel the vacancy made 
in the ministers' meeting — in fact, as Dr. Martyn 
pithily predicted, New York is lonesome without 
him. 

The affection of our hearts prompts us to lay a 
flower on his grave to-day. In student days, when 
we sat at his feet studying Greek, we admired his 
tremendous energy and great earnestness. When 
he left Rutgers to become a New York pastor, we 
followed him with our sympathies. His growing 
influence delighted our pride in him. We indulged 
the pleasing thought that, as once our teacher, we 
had a kind of ownership in him. 

Now that he is gone, earth indeed is poorer. 
We ask, where has that active spirit been the past 
year? What has it seen? What are its attain- 
ments ? Now it delights in the higher knowledge 
and purer love of the better land ! 

It may interest many of the old students 
of Rutgers if we state that a tablet of white 
marble has recently been placed upon the wall 



594 —-"-■ -•' "■"■ - : - 7 

of the Fourth Avenue Church, which reads as 

folic 

In Memory of Howard Crosby. D.D.. LL.D. 
The fourth pastor of this church. 

i S05-1SC 1. 

A .earned, courageous, patriotic and godly man, 
he was greatly beloved. 

He shunned not to declare the whole counsel 
:: God. 

Born February :~ [826. 

Rested March 29, 1891. 

" Know ye not that there is a prince and a great 

man fallen this day in Israel ?" II Sam. 3: 38. 

Only those who knew the departed can appre- 
hend how fully he merited the above tribute to his 
worth. Every word is full of significance, because 

so jus:. 

N. I. M. B. 

Clovirhill N". J.. March 29,1892. 



Miscellaneous. 395 



[From the " New York Tribune," 1 1892.] 

A RESOLUTION CONCURRING IN THE LAST GEN 
ERAL ASSEMBLY'S DELIVERANCE. 



The New York Presbytery held an adjourned 
meeting yesterday. After it was called to order 
by the Moderator, the Rev. Dr. John C. Bliss, in 
the chapel of the University Place Church, the 
examination of candidates for licensure in the 
Presbyterian Church was named as the order of 
the day. There were more members of the Pres- 
bytery present than was expected, and some 
twenty-five of the students of Union Theological 
Seminary were present as visitors. When the ex- 
amination had been in progress about an hour, Dr. 
Bliss called upon Dr. Alexander to moderate the 
meeting. Soon after this the Rev. John C. Night- 
ingale, who was elected as an alternate commis- 
sioner the day before, asked permission to present 
a resolution, at the same time moving that it be 
ordered to be placed on the docket for considera- 
tion at the May meeting, and that a printed copy 
be sent to each member of the Presbytery before 



396 Howard Crosby. 

that time. The resolution omitting the test of 
the deliverance noted, was as follows : * * * 

Resolved, That this Presbytery heartily c6ncurs 
in each of the above deliverances, as reaffirmed by 
the General Assembly of 1891. 

The second deliverance, adopted four years ago 
in Philadelphia, was written by Dr. Howard Cros- 
by, and is as follows : 

4. We are constrained also to make another 
suggestion, which will not be taken amiss by 
the right-minded. It is doubtless necessary that 
heretical views should be made known to the 
students of theology, and that heretical authors 
should be quoted ; but care should be taken that 
these heresies should not be presented in more 
attractive form than the truth, and that these 
authors should not be commended and their works 
urged upon the students' reading. Emphasis 
should be laid upon the truth as against such 
heresies and heretics, and errors should be ex- 
posed and denounced with earnestness and zeal. 

There is to-day a vast amount of infidel and 
semi-infidel writings by professional commentators 
on the Holy Scriptures and on Scripture history, 
especially in Germany. These make light of 
God's Word, and treat the sacred volume as a 



Miscellaneous. 397 

mass of rubbish. Only commendation of such 
writers should be heard from a seminary professor, 
whatever may be the secular learning of the infidel 
authors or their rationalistic imitators. 

It is not wise nor righteous dealing with young 
candidates for the Gospel ministry to commend 
this poison to their minds, when they have no anti- 
dote to save them from its insidious action. Truth 
must be emphasized, and all falsehood unsparingly 
condemned. Excuse or apology for these errors, 
or any mitigation of their heinousness coming 
from a professor, is tantamount to approval in the 
practical effect upon a young student. The pro- 
fessor, armed in his own mind with all the answers 
to the arguments of error, must not make himself 
stand a standard for the student, to whom these 
arguments appear conclusive. What is perfectly 
safe to the professor may be of the utmost danger 
to the student. 

We insist upon it that the truth, as given in the 
Bible and the Confession of Faith, should be the 
truth taught in our seminaries. We make these sug- 
gestions unhesitatingly, because it is the duty of the 
General Assembly to watch over its theological sem- 
inaries, and to give them such advice as may seem 
useful and appropriate, and we know well the 



398 Howard Crosby. 

special dangers which now press upon the Church 
of Christ from worldliness and from learned 
infidelity. In our seminaries, as spiritual arsenals, 
must the proper armor be furnished against these 
foes of our Lord and His Church, and to our 
faithful brethren laboring in these schools of the 
prophets the General Assembly confidently looks 
for the needed supply. (See " Minutes," 1888, pp. 
89, 90.) 



CHRIST. 



For ages, in the shades of blackest night, 

Enrobed in mourning for the sin of man, 

The Earth had sat — no bright and cheering ray 

Had lit the erring world, once innocent, 

Save meteor-lights that shot through Judah's skies, 

Yielding faint hopes of the returning day, 

Which, van'shing, only left the night more drear. 

But now back rush the thick black ranks of cloud — 

Frighted, the darkness flies, while o'er the hills 

Arises, in unequall'd majesty, 

— Transporting sight ! — the Sun of Righteousness. 

Nations arous'd, leap from their lethargy, 

Ecstatic, sing aloud with holy joy, — 

The distant worlds take up th' inspiring strain, 



Miscellaneous. 399 

And echoing angels catch the rapt'rous song, 
Unceasing all thro' all eternity. 



The mid-days sun pour'd down its scorching rays 
With cloudless splendor on Gennesaret, 
And by reflection from the water's face 
Made doubly hot the summer's atmosphere 
Some fishing boats were moor'd along the shore — 
The crew employ'd, a few in casting nets, 
But most to avoid the burning heat of day, 
Beneath the awnings in their little barks, 
Repairing all their implements ; and some 
Were letting pass the time in idle talk 
Or simple merriment. While thus engag'd, 
A stranger's form draws near along the beach. 
They stop to gaze. He comes — and as he comes, 
Cries out to them, " If ye would fish for men, 
Then follow me." Struck with the Stranger's mien, 
All wonder, and some leave their well-worn nets, 
Obedient to the call, and follow him. 



Bow down, O earth ! and, cloth'd in sackcloth, weep ; 
Ye sun and moon, and countless orbs of light. 
Who makes your distant journies thro' the skies, 
Raise sounds of lamentations as ye go, — 
Ye hosts angelic, messengers of love, 



4-00 Howard Crosby. 

Lift up your holy voices, loudly mourn, 

For — awful mystery ! — the Holy One 

Kneels, spirit-stricken, in Gethsemane — 

And now hangs bleeding from th' accursed tree, 

The sport of wretched worms ! — Yet now rejoice ! 

He lives ! he lives ! forth from the lowly tomb 

He comes, triumphant over death and hell, 

The Son of God. — Oh ! shout ye cherubim, 

For man is saved by Jesus' godlike death, 

'Tis he, who humble at Gennesaret 

Was friend to fishermen, who now above 

All pow'rs in earth or heaven is uprais'd, 

And sits in glory, sov'reign Lord of all ! 



Long centuries have past — chang'd and rechang'd 

Have been the world's inhabitants, tho' earth 

Is still herself the same. Jerusalem 

Still sits by Kedron's stream, and Calvary 

Stands, as in days of yore — but far awav 

Beyond the seas, through many a distant land, 

What mean those solemn chimes and holy sounds, 

That rise in pleasing harmony to heav'n ; 

And those assembled multitudes, with whom 

Faith, Hope and Love, blest three 1 delight to dwell ? 

Ask of Gethsemane ! for he, who there 

Was seen o'erwhelrn'd in sorrow's stormy waves, 

And who before had call'd the fishermen, 

From that small seed has rear'd this giant tree ; 



Miscellaneous. 40 \ 

For not the sons of Zebedee alone, 
But families and nations, nay, a world, 
Have heard the stranger's mild, persuasive call, 
And, leaving all beside, have follow'd him. 

H. C, 1845. 



THE SABBATH. 



I love the Sabbath dearly, 
God's presentation day ; 

When the Subjects of his kingdom, 
Approach his throne to pray. 



God's ear is ever open, 

To hear the suppliant's prayer, 
But on the holy Sabbath, 

United they draw near. 

3 
Then the angels in their glory, 

Surround the solemn throng, 
And upward through their army, 

Ascends the prayer and song. 



402 Howard Crosby. 

4 
The cherubim exulting, 

Attend upon their king, 
While men redeem'd, together, 

His praise in transport sing. 

5 
Then the ministers of Jesus 

Expound the sacred word, 
And the notes of love and mercy, 

Are from their voices heard. 



They tell the wounded spirit 
There is a precious balm, 

And they show the weeping sinner 
The sin-atoning Lamb. 

7 
O how I love thy hours 

Thou Holy Sabbath day, 
Bright vestibule of heaven 

Where christians love to pray. 

8 

The saint, when comes the Sabbath, 
He presses near the throne, 

And by his courtly garment 
The praying saint is known. 



Miscellaneous. 403 

9 

But from that throne of glory 

The sinner turns away, 
O why thus spurn the blessing, 

Of God's reception day. 



This life shall soon be ended, 
This earth shall pass away, 

Then comes in dazzling splendor 
Th' eternal Sabbath day. 

11 

Forever in the presence, 
Of God, their Holy King ; 

With gladsome hearts and voices, 
The saints shall loudly sing. 



While cherubim and seraphim 

Shall swell the inspiring lay, 
O who can tell the rapture, 

Of that bless'd Sabbath day. 

*3 

Thus happy are the righteous, 

But sinners, where are they ? 
They're gone to Satan's Kingdom, 

To spend their Sabbath day. 

H. C, 1845. 



404 Howard Crosby 



["From ths Christian InteMgenoer."] 
THE SOUL-SAIL. 



With buoyant heart I launch my bark, 

And spread my canvas to the breeze ; 
I love alike the light and dark, 

The placid wave and stormy seas. 
I tread my deck without a fear, 

Secure upon my floating realm ; 
1 tremble not when rocks are near — 

1 have my Saviour at the helm ! 

When softest zephyrs breathe their lays. 

And ocean sleepeth calm and fair, 
I gaze upon its quiet face, 

And see the sky reflected there — 
The glorious sky, my Father's home — 

The spirit-land I love so well, 
Where golden-winged angels roam, 

And where, hereafter, I shall dwell. 

And when the hoary-headed waves 

And roaring tempests shake my craft, 
Opening a thousand wat'ry graves, 

Wherein my brittle boat to waft, 
My eye of faith is rais'd on high, 

And thro' the elemental wars 
It pierceth to the joyous sky, 

And seeth there the smiling stars. 



Miscella neous. 405 

Whatever be the wind and tide, 

Whatever be the dangers near, 
In safety on my way I ride, 

While God-sent hope preventeth fear. 
In joy I cry " My little bark 

No sea shall ever overwhelm ; 
I sail alike thro' light and dark — 

/ have my Saviour at the helm! " 

H. C, October 28, 1849. 



THE LEISURE HOUR 



A leisure hour ! not an oasis, 

For life is not a desert, with its heat 
And wildness dreary and monotonous, 

That dulls the pilgrim's soul, and burns his feet r 
Presenting nought or sweet or glorious, 

Save hope of rest at last in cool retreat ; 
Life is not such to me — a joyous path 
In this kind curious world my spirit hath. 

A leisure hour ! not the honey'd sleep 

That followeth the weary day of toil, 
And o'er the prostrate stealthily doth creep 

As creeps the sun's still warmth o'er morning soil- 
That in Lethean streamlets loves to steep 

Him that has bath'd where turbid waters boil ; 
Life has no toil for me. Whose eyes are pure 
Can see no toil, where Heaven saith, " Endure." 



406 Howard Crosby. 

A leisure hour ! not the tempests lull, 
That speaketh to the mariner of rest — 

That calleth down the hardy-winged gull 
To hover nearer to his billowy nest, 

And seeketh from the cloudy fields to cull 

Some flowers of sunshine for the ocean's breast ; 

Life hath no storms for me — its heaven-sent rain 

Is not to ruin, but to rear, the grain. 



A leisure hour ! See the country boy, 
Who leaves the rural hamlet of his birth, 

And, with a spirit full of new-born joy, 
Beholds the glories of the shining earth ; 

His every' glance presents another toy, 

'Till, bursting with the fulness of his mirth, 

He shuts awhile his wond'ring happy eyes, 

To open them again in new surprise. 



Such is my leisure hour ! a time to breathe, 

When from the world's bright cup I take my lips, 

That cup 'round which my Saviour loves to wreathe 
His loveliest smiles. Oh ! happy he who sips 

From chalice that around, above, beneath, 
Is grav'd by God — his sun knows no eclipse : 

I take my lips away — but 'tis for breath 

To drink again — and drink again till death ! 

H. C, 1847. 



Miscellaneous. 407 



THE SOWER. 



Matt, xiii, 3-8. 



The Christian sower bears the precious seed, 
And, in the service of his heavenly Lord, 

Casts it, in spite of rock, or thorn, or weed, 
Upon the barren soil or verdant sward ; 

Upon the mountain or the lowly mead, 
Hoping to reap for Christ a rich reward. 

Sower ! not vain thy hope, thy zealous care ; 

Thy crop is rich, tho' mix'd with many a tare. 

The way-side beaten by the traveller's foot, 
Is sorry home for so divine a guest ; 

The holy seed can never there take root — 
It finds no welcome in its hardened breast ; 

It dies — or hungry birds attracted to % 
Devour all before it findeth rest. 

So in some souls the gospel never lives — 

The devil taketh what the Bible gives. 

Some seed is scatter'd where the rugged rock 
Is mask'd with scantiness of soil — and there 

It shooteth forth, a green and sudden stock, 

With goodly leaves, that promise wondrous fair ; 

But, when the noonday rays its greenness shock, 
It, withering, dies — the rootless never bear. 

Some hear the word and loudly they rejoice, 

Till persecution stop their fickle voice. 



4o8 Howard Crosby. 

Among the briar-thickets some is cast ; 

They grow awhile, but with a feeble growth ; 
No victims to the heat, or bird's repast, 

Or to the tempest, when it fiercely blow'th ; 
But root and stem decay and die at last, 

The pressing thorns beset and choke them both. 
The cares of earth and Mammon's hidden spare 
Destroy the Word, and hope becomes despair. 

Not all so die ; thank God ! the fertile mould 
Receives the sower's gift — the nourish'd grain 

Its root and stalk and leaf begins t' unfold, 
And careth not for sun, or thorn, or rain, 

Its loaded ears the precious produce hold — 
Sower ! I said thou hadst not toil'd in vain. 

Oh ! blessed he who with an humble faith 

Receiveth gladly what his Saviour saith ! 

H. C, i 



ON RECEIVING SOME FLOWERS. 



The seen — Heaven's love adapted to our eyes, — 
The deep unseen of God that touches ours, — 

These two your lovely gift doth symbolize, 
The beauty and the perfume of the flowers. 

H. C., December 26, 1887. 



Miscellaneous. 409 



JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. 



LAST PIECE WRITTEN BY DR. CROSBY. 



I doubt no more — the life was wonderful, 
And yet I said He was a carpenter. 
His fame was great in His own Galilee, 
But learned scribes explained the mystery. 
Of lepers cleansed and cripples leaping high, 
Tracing the source of all to Beelzebub ; 
And so I crushed my rising faith — besides 
How could a prophet abrogate the law, 
Tear down the Sabbath, hedge and devastate, 
The holy garden of our heritage, 
Pronouncing woes upon the sacred guides ; 
The nation honored ? Surely all His word 
That seemed to fascinate the multitude, 
Was but the guile of genius. Thus I thought, 
And yet the streams was eddied oft by doubt, 
Striking resisting proof a thousand times, 
As word and work were told my listening ear ; 
Prompted by fear of scorn from reverend men, 
I bade my soul be still, conservative, 
And so repel the rising heresy ; 
Nor would I see the noted Nazarene, 
Lest by his sleight my heart might be subdued 



410 Hoivard Crosby. 

And yet when in the august Sanhedrim 

The scoff and curse were launched upon his name, 

I shrank from joining in the guttural spite 

As if his name were on me — why was this ? 

I feared his power for ill, but could not hate, 

Nor frame the words of hatred with my tongue, 

The very violence of the Sanhedrim 

Opened the channels of my adverse thought, 

Set me to ponder on the prophecies, 

And look for light from darkened Zebulon, 

So, restless, while I tried to be composed, 

Three years I plied my oars against the tide 

Of strong convictions issuing from the Word, 

Wearied with effort, weak, uncertain sad, 

I was almost abandoned to despair, 

When in my loneliness I heard the cry 

" The Galilean prophet has been seized, 

Jerusalem will slay the hypocrite ! " 

Instant I sped as wing'd and reached the gate 

As from it surged a wild tumultuous crowd 

Of men and women, soldiers clad in steel, 

Priests, scribes and citizens of every sort, — 

And in the midst a bruised but manly form 

Going to death — the cross behind Him showed, 

I knew at once it was the Nazarene 

Whom I had shunned so carefully before, 

I joined the mob, and there at Golgotha 

I saw the victim raised upon the wood: 

Heaven's love and dignity were in His face ; 

I heard the words of grace and tenderness : 



Miscellaneous. 4 1 1 

I saw the gathered darkness o'er the scene ; 
I felt the shaking of the troubled earth, 
And all my doubts were gone. 

And now I go 
To seek from Roman power a privilege 
Greater than Caesar owns — to place within 
My own new tomb the body of the dead, 
The Nazarene, henceforth my living Lord. 

Howard Crosby. 
Pine Hill, July, 1890. 



MY HOPE. 



Before the great white throne on high 

With all its holy brilliancy, 
Known and belov'd of Heav'n am I 

Because the Saviour stands for me. 



He gave me life and made me his — 
He called me by his own blest name,- 

And where his home eternal is 

For me his own becomes the same. 



'Tis this — when fetter'd by my sin, 
Restores my soul and sets me free ; 

It's now no longer what I've been, 
But that the Saviour stands for me. 



412 Howard Crosby. 

Tis this when restless under pain, 

Feeling how weak and frail I be, 
That brings me to my hope again — 

The loving Saviour stands for me. 

Earth's day soon past — Heaven's doors are lift — 
The King of Glory's name, the key, — 

Within the pearly gates I drift 
Because my Saviour stands for me. 

Howard Crosby, October, 1888. 



Miscellaneous. 413 



H. C. 

Gone to his Saviour, gone to the blessed home, 

Towards which his weary eyes were often drawn 

When midst the cares of earthly strife, 

He longed to pass away to cloudless life. — 

Gone, and the scenes which knew him all so well, 

May no more feel his presence magic spell, 

The church, the platform, nor the hall, 

Shall hear again his bold and fearless Call 

To fight the evil, or disseminate the good ! 

And we who knew him in his gentler mood, 

Who saw his sweet unselfish life at home 

For there his many virtues brightest shone, 

How drear and lone our future here will be, 

Without his radiant smile, ah ! that we shall not see, 

Until like him we have u the victory won," 

And meet in glory round the Saviour's throne, 

M. C. 






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